Descending Heaven
by hiro himura
Summary: What if Naruto befreinds Tenten at a young age after her parents death in the kyuubi attack? What if Haku didn't die on the Bridge? What if Naruto gained Zabuza's sword? Read and Find out.Rating M for later chapters. TentenxNarutoxfemHaku
1. Introduction:A Prelude to Destiny

**Disclaimer**: I dont own Naruto

Not a bleach crossover all I'm doing is importing the idea of the zanpakuto.

Ame is not Tenten's last name, since she doesnt have one, but it is her most commonly used one as seen on Wikipedia so I'll be using it for this story.

This story is about Naruto, Tenten, and Haku(**who is a girl**)**,** so I'll mostly be focusing on them. Just so you know, I really don't like Itachi, Shikamaru, Kakashi, Sasuke, or Kiba, so don't be suprised if they get bashed.

This is a story about love, hate, some comedy and a shit load of action. It will not have yaoi, super or semidark Narutos, freindly Sasukes, crappy OCs, major crossovers, or characters who suddenly become super smart or confident, and just because this story is rated M, don't expect lemons or anything like that in the first chapters. This story will include character development, some few OCs, swearing, and mildly perverted humour, so watch out.

A good story takes time to tell and even though I am not the best writer, far from it, I still am writing this according to how I think a Naruto fic should be done. I've done a lot of work and reviewing, and I think I'm ready to write something good.

Rewrite-Hello again, this is Heero and this chapter is the beggining of my new revamped Descending Heaven. I realized more than a year after I had started to write it, that I wasn't liking the direction the story was taking, it was not up to the standard of what I wanted it to be. The chapters were short and choppy, so like many other writers who have had this problem, I decided to rewrite it. I've condenced some chapters, lengthened others, and added in a bunch of new content to hopefully make this story flow better. Its taken me most of the summer, more time than I would've liked, but I'm pretty proud of the result. The only thing that hasn't changed is this first chapter. Why? Because this is where it all started, and like Gurren Lagann, even if the intro doesn't exactly follow the storyline, it sets up the feel for the following chapters.

Read and Review, Heero-sama out.

**Introduction Chapter**--Hitsuzen

_"We shall not cease our exploration and at the end of our exploring, will be to arrive where we started  
and know it for the first time"  
-T.S. Eliot_

The world is infintely large, full of a myriad of wonders and, yet to those ignorant of it, the world is extremelly small. What one perceives with his sense of touch, smell, sight, hearing, and taste. Their worlds are limited to that small space. In that way, destiny is brought into the lives of men. If a man believes the only thing he will amount to is a poor farmer like his father and grandfather before him, then he most likely will end up a farmer. If one decides his destiny is decided, then it most likely is, and if a person believes his destiny is what he makes of it, then he is most likely right.

This is the story of a man yet to realize his destiny. The story about a boy growing into a man. This is the story of three unlikly ninja, teammates, lovers. But most of all this story is about Hitsuzen.

Ame Tenten's parents were claimed by the nine tails on the first day of it's attack. Utterly and hopelessly outmatched by the terrifying nine tailed demon fox, the two greatest weapon smiths, and weapon ninjas, ever to reside in the land of fire died protecting their comrades, their village,and their beautiful daughter, who was just turning one. Soon afterwards, the fourth Hokage gave up his life to seal the nine tails forever, in the naval of a new born child. Before he died he christened the small blond boy Uzumaki Naruto. He passed his will of fire to the infant, positive that the boy would be praised as a hero, that this baby would become the greatest Hokage ever.

Six years passed and both Tenten and Naruto lived on their own, neither taken in by Konoha's orphanage, crammed to the rim as it was by orphans from the Kyuubi attack. By a stroke of luck or maybe fate, the two rambuncious kids lived in the same apartment complex, and the two orphans soon became fast friends, their bond strengthened by their mutual lonliness.

Whenever the landlord or one of the tenants would hassle Naruto, which was fairly often, his "big sister Tenten" would chase off the offenders, usually with a mace, a sword, or one of her other many weapons. Whenever this happened Tenten usually wondered why Naruto got in so much trouble with everyone, but she didn't want to bring up any painful memories so she never asked and it didn't seem to the young weapon's mistress that Naruto knew the reason for it anyway.

The two of them trained together after their classes were done, and they grew to be very close. And as his senpai, who was one year ahead and already a hot shot(literally) in the acadamy, Tenten would show Naruto how to throw a kunai or make a bunshin. Unfortunatly, Naruto was never very good at either, still he had found family with Iruka and Tenten and that was enough.

--time skip to after land of waves arc--

The day after the return from the wave, Naruto and Tenten were in their usual training ground by a stretch of the river that ran through Konoha. Actually, Tenten was waiting around for Naruto and Naruto was swinging around a huge eight foot metal zanbatou that he had gotten from a freind in the land of waves.

**Ok kit, it's the moment of truth. Smear your blood on the blade of the sword. Then yell "I take the sword of justice." Flourish it around a bit, then do that funny dance I taught you. **The kyuubi was making his cage a little more presentable. He swept the floor, put up a window on the cage wall, and hid all his dirty magazines under his couch. If a new part of Naruto's soul was coming here he wanted the place to be presentable. He was the demon lord of hell and he'd be damned before he was looked down upon.

_You can't be serious. _**Of course I am kit, this is all completely nessecary to convert this dull, lifeless sword into your own personal dull toothpick sized weapon. Think of this sword as a kind of vessel. The outer shape and abilities are unique to the user who bonded with that sword, but the sword itself is just a recepticle to materialize your soul on the physical plane. **

"Are you sure there's no catch?" Naruto asked skeptically.

**"Of course not kit, you won't have to pay a thing, besides weren't you grumbling about how you wanted to be stronger than that stupid Uchiha?" **The Kyuubi responded.

"Ya, but if its so easy to do this, why didn't Zabuza ever make this into his own zanpakuto?" Naruto asked.

**"Well, thats hard to say..." **

To say the least, Naruto was more than a little confused. Still, it couldn't hurt that much, except for... well his pride. The kyuubi container imitated Jiraya's introduction dance(the one he did when he first met Naruto), spun around three times all while holding Zanbunza's huge sword, and planted the zanbato's blade a foot into the earth. Naruto went through ten hand signs, bit his thumb, and smeared the blood onto Zabunza's headchopper cleaver.

"I take the sword of justice" Inside, the Kyubbi was doubled over with laughter. _**The kit really is an idiot, following my instructions like a fool, **_the Kyuubi thought_._

Tenten sweatdropped as she watched Naruto basically make an idiot out of himself, but changed her mind as she watched Naruto effortlessly pluck the massive blade from the ground with one hand.

A massive wave of light shrouded the zanbatou. When it disappeared, the sword that remained did not even resemble Zabuza's.

The sword he now held in his hand, barely resembled the giant metal cleaver he had a second ago, for one thing, it a lot smaller. The sword now resembled an elegant katana. It's blade was a pale silver with a white/bluish tempering on the sharp side. It had a black hilt and pommel, and had the standard katana crossweaving in orange. The guard was the standard square guard made out of a strange goldish metal(the kind zanpakutos guards in bleach are made out of) with one spiral in the upper right hand corner of the guard and a hole of the same size oppisite that and the sheath was also an orange bordering on red.

Tenten asked "Sugoi! Naruto-kun, you did it, but... was all that dancing completely neccesary?"

Inside the kid's, the Kyuubi snickered evilly. **Tell her it is kit. Although, we wouldn't want a big bad demon embaressing you in front of your sexy little vixen now would we. **In a nearbye tree, a feminine ninja with a white mask watched as the blond ninja yelled

_"Hey! don't call her that, Tenten-chan is the nicest, prettiest, nicest girl I know." _Naruto yelled mentally, defending his longtime freind.

**So you do think she's pretty, hmmm I wonder.**The Kyuubi mused.

"HEY! You tricked me. I had to trail Jiraya for three days before he did that dance and it took me two more to get it just right." Naruto yelled this time out loud, changing the subject as he blushed "and it wasn't even neccesary!"

**Too bad kit just goes to show you not to trust a fox. **The kyuubi started to maniaclly laugh until Naruto threatened to mentally shrink the cage, being as cramped as it was the Kyuubi didn't want to take any chances.

Inside Naruto, the Kyuubi was rattling the bars to his cage, in vain, _**Soon kit, your zanpakuto's spirit will awaken and your future will unfold. I must say I'm a little sorry I won't be around to see it. Still, I'm a little proud kit, this was none of my doing, all of this... this power is all you. **_

--

Hidden carefully inside the branches of a nearbye tree, a feminine, white masked, hunterninja crouched silently, watching as the blond ninja jumped up and down, yelling loudly, apparently having a onesided argument with himself, and losing. Laughing at the blond genin's silly antics, she whispered to herself,

"Naruto-sama."

**--**

The legacy of the Fourth a young man radiant as the sun, an orphaned kunoichi, driven to be the best, an icy hunter nin, whose bloodline is as mysterious as her lineage. Three orphans destined to meet on the Bridge connecting the two worlds, bound together for eternity.

There is a meaning, a purpose behind these events. It can be the smallest of things, the most trivial of circumstances, it may never be recorded, nor even remembered, after all a bond of fate never disappears once tied.

Hitsuzen, as noted by the Kodansha Japanese desk dictionary, second edition, is not fate. Fate implys that we have no choice in our destinies, we are merely puppets, being strung along our entire times with no say in the matter.

Hitsuzen is an unavoidable action or outcome in which other outcomes are impossible because without it the events linking to it would not occur. Nothing different could have been otherwise because then that would entail different circumstances. A butterfly's wings flap, and a hurricane appears halfway across the world. An unbroken series of connections follows any person's life, one's decisions always has a later affect on them.

Nomatter how unimportant the meaning... How insignificant the decision... How small the initial outcome...

Therefore all decisions and actions are related, and there can be no coincidence, only _hitsuzen_.

The way before these three is wide, complex, converging, splitting, into a myriad of destinies. Rather than being led down a path, they choose their own way.

This is the story of a man who makes his own destiny.

--

Hows that for a confusing introduction.

Read Review etc.

This is not a bleach crossover. I just like the idea of the zanpakutos and I'm not giving Naruto ichigo or anyone elses zanpakuto so no Zangetsu or anything.

If you have a suggestion for Naruto or Tenten's shikai and bankai or spirit then please contact me and if I like it I'll put it in, please try to be original, at the very least not from bleach. Other bankai and shikai and OCs would be cool too. I'll take plot ideas and any other suggestions too, just Pm or review and I'll be there. Also if someone would like to beta that would be cool, prefferably someone with a ton of patience and good grammer, and spellcheck on their computer (I don't have any of these). He or she would also have to be someone who gets the chapter back to me pretty quick, I'd say a couple days, max a week, because if he or she doesn't I'll start changing things around all over again.

Well, until then, Ja Ne


	2. Rebirth of Thunder

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

I think I really struggled on this chapter compared to the others. Its because interacting with the Kyuubi, the first contact is always something of importance in stories like this. I usually think that the way other people do it is quite bad. Usually its, something like this...

''Hi I'm Naruto."

Kazam! "Ahh, kit, I want to make up everything to you. I'm so sorry. Here take this bloodline, these eyes, all my chakra, some ultrapowerful jutsu, and some tails and ears, all of which are superior to the Sharingan and Byakugan. No, they are not only superior, they are better than both combined! Now you can match Orochimaru, or even Itachi. Now go out their and have passionate sex with every female you can find. Not just one, heavens no, please, you must have multiple in order to sate your lust and rebuild your clan. Oh and did I mention that you're the son of the Fourth Hokage..."

I absolutly hate it when people do that. It just makes me roll my eyes, how poorly set up some fics are. I don't think there is a chance in hell of that ever happening. I know that people can write however they feel like, but god, that is just ridiculous. I believe as much as anyone else that Naruto should be able to get what's rightfully his, but through hard work and a long journey full of both ups and downs, not within the first three sentences of the first chapter in a story.

I have pretty much decided what Naruto's shikai will be. If u have a sword design though, I'll be happy to look at it. Tenten's shikai and bankai abilities and sword design are not decided yet, so please submit a design for them, I'd prefer an original design if possible.

This story will eventually turn into a HakuxNarutoxTenten story. I hope you continue to read this story, even though its not too interesting now, but I'm a strong believer in character development and background before action. I hate stories where Naruto becomes super powerful overnight, or when Hinata confesses her love to Naruto and then they get together and she automatically becomes confident. Things like that take time. As some wise people said 'Rome wasn't built in a day'

This story will at first be mostly cannon with bits of Tenten in it, and slowly but surely, it will diverge away from the cannon. By the end of the chunin exams, it'll be completely different.

On a side note, not that this has anything to do with my story, not really anyway, but I just thought about this as I wrote this chapter. How come Naruto never noticed that whenever he gathered chakra, a giant seal appeared on his chest? I can't believe anyone could miss a freaking tatoo the size of a 18-inch deep crust pepporoni pizza on their chest, especially when they're a ninja, a profession that requires one to channel chakra quite frequently. Honestly, how can you not notice that?.

That aside I hope you enjoy the next exciting chapter of Descending Heaven.

--

The night before the genin exams

Uzumaki Naruto jumped up and down with joy. He finally made a decent bunshin jutsu, and by decent he meant three other only slightly deformed Naruto clones. The fox container had been practicing his jutsu and ninja skills from dusk till dawn for days, and the training ground was littered with shuriken, kunai, and scrolls. He had failed last year in the academy and Naruto knew he didn't want to be stay in school another year. Becoming a genin meant that he would be able to go on missions, perhaps outside the village, which meant he would be able to escape all the glares and curses of the villagers and impress Tenten at the same time. With this in mind, Naruto strove to surpass his limited chakra control and create three perfect bunshin.

**Bunshin no jutsu!**

When the smoke cleared Naruto was standing next to two perfect clones, except they were completely devoid of all pigment. He had made two compleltely white bunshin. Grunting from the effort Naruto dispelled the clones and gathered his weapons in preparation for the academy exams.

Feeling slightly wornout and sore, Naruto collapsed into his seat at the back of Iruka-sensei's classroom right before the bell rung. A certain pale eyed hyugga girl to his right blushed at the sight of her idol sleeping in class with a bit of drool coming out of the corner of his mouth. As usual the rest of the class was in chaos. Paper airplanes flew through the air, boys talked and laughed at the top of their longs, and would-be-konoichi swooned after Sasuke. "QUIET!" Iruka yelled at the top of his voice. His head swelled and turned read from the strain, "Quiet, students!"

Regaining his composure, Iruka announced to the kids "Your tests to see if you are eligable to be genin are about to start. I want all of you to do your best. If you do gain one of these headbands," Iruka tapped his konoha leaf headband, "Rememeber that you now represent the leaf village, so make us proud. Your schedules for testing are posted on the wall. Good luck." Iruka crossed his hands and smiled at the job well done. Then the school teacher noticed a certain orange wearing blond at the back of the classroom. Hinata was standing behind him with a concerned look on her face. She was caught between concern for Naruto and embarresment for being so near to her crush. Just as Hinata had mustered enough courage to bring her hand to Naruto's shoulder, to wake him up, Iruka appeared next to her. Hinata eeped with suprise and covered her hands over her mouth. Out came a muffled "Iruka-sensei!" Iruka smiled knowingly at Hinata, "Thank you for looking after Naruto for me, you can run along now miss Hyuuga, I'll take care of him."

Hinata turned as red as a tomato and nodded once, muffling "hai", then headed out the classroom. Iruka cleared his throat, "Naruto!" Iruka yelled at the top of his lungs. The young blond demon container comically jumped from sleeping in his desk to screaming his lungs out. Smacking Naruto on the head, Iruka continued his tirade "You moron, what are you doing? Didn't I tell you to get a good nights sleep before the test? What am I going to do with you Naruto? Hurry up go to the first exam."

"Hai Iruka-sensei" Naruto saluted and marched milatary-style to room 204. Inside was the horror of horrors, a paper test. Naruto sighed as he sat down. Writing his name on the top of the paper in squigally script, Naruto cringed as he looked down to the first question. He hastily scribbled down an answer and turned the page. The fox container was suprised to find a question that he knew, then another, and again another. Before he knew it, Naruto was done with the written portion of the exam.

After that came the shinobi tool and the bunshin part of the exam with Naruto getting a bit above the average marks for the shinobi tools and managing to create three mostly correct bunshin.

As they called the names alphabetically, after Uchiha Sasuke, Naruto rushed up to collect his headband. Just as he reached out to grab it, a proctor slapped his hand away. Reading off a clipboard he said "Uzumaki Naruto, based on the scoring of your written test, your ninja tool results, and the bunshin you have made today,you fail."

Naruto fell face first into the floor, anime style.

"What, I couldn't have failed!" Naruto screamed, "I created three bunshin and everything this year!" The unknown proctor cleared his throat. "Though you demonstrated basic comprehension of both jutsu and ninja tools, your written exam was not good enough to merit a passing grade."

"B-But... but I answered all the questions" Naruto responded "I couldn't have failed."

"I'm sorry young man, but you seemed to have neglected to finish the back page of the exam, the essay portion, which was worth most of the exam" he held up Naruto's test.

"Even if i forgot the last page, I passed the other two tests. That means I should still pass. Can he do that Iruka sensei?"

Iruka scratched the back of his head, "Actually he can, Naruto, the written exam is worth 87 percent of the overall grade, which, now that you mention, is a little odd for an exam designed to test shinobi skills, but its still the rules, I'm sorry Naruto"

Naruto was struck dumb. He failed, again. _I let Tenten-chan and myself down, again. _The blond haired boy was struck with grief. Outside on a swing sat Naruto, staring at the acadamy children, who had graduated, and their parents. A tear rolled down his cereulian blue eyes to his whiskered cheek. He sat their on the swing long after the parents and children had gone home, long into the night, until he felt a warm hand on his shoulder. Deep in thought, Naruto nearly jumped from the contact.

Without looking behind him, Naruto knew at once who it was. Only one person in the village touched or talked to Naruto without flinching, besides Ayame and old man Ichiraku, but they weren't here. He whispered "Tenten-chan... I'm sorry." Another tear appeared, then another, till he was silently sobbing.

Concerned for her little brother, from behind Naruto, Tenten wrapped her arms around the depressed blond shinobi in what she thought was a comforting, if somewhat awkward hug. She rested her chin on the shorter ninja's head, "It's ok, Naruto-kun, really. You don't have to cry for me. I know how hard you trained to graduate this year, but their is always next time right? You just can't give up hope, or else everything we've worked so hard to overcome, especially our parents deaths, will be meaningless." The brown haired weapon crazy kunoichi's eyes began to water also at the thought of her parents.

"Come on Naruto-kun, lets go home, you shouldn't sit out here in the cold, you'll catch something." Tenten said smiling, releasing Naruto from her hug.

"Hai Ten-chan, just give me a minute." Naruto whispered, swaying back and forth on the old rickity wooden swing.

Suddenly, Mizuki emerged from behind a tree. "Hi, Naruto! I've been looking for you. Let's talk, I'll treat you to some ice cream."

--Scene Change--

Sitting on the edge of one of konoha's buildings, Naruto stared into the sun until his eyes watered, determined not to meet eyes with the smiling teacher.

"You know, Naruto, we are only doing this so you can become strong. Iruka-san in particular knows just how much you suffered. He is an orphan also. But listen, Naruto, what if I told you of another way to graduate?"

Mizuki proceeded to explain to Naruto how to get into the hokage tower, where to find the forbidden scroll, and told the unsuspecting blond would be shinobi that if he could learn one jutsu from the scroll he would pass. Directly beneath them, using her shinobi skill to remain hidden, Tenten listened to Mizuki's plan. She didn't trust that slimy teacher at all.

--

That very night, Naruto snuck into the Hokage tower and with the help of his signature jutsu, managed to get away with the scroll. Mizuki had tricked Naruto into taking the scroll, but he was stopped by the timely arrival of Iruka and Tenten.

Mizuki however was not done and soon took a strength enhancing poisen given to him by Orochimaru. With his new found power, he was able to knock out both Iruka and Tenten. Seeing his precious persons being attacked, Naruto created a thousand bunshin, easily beating Mizuki.

--The Next Day--

The fox boy stirred as the sunlight hit his face. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Naruto noticed someone standing over his bed. The figure was dressed in black with a mask obscuring his or her face.

"An Anbu? What are you doing here?" Naruto asked.

"Uzumaki Naruto, you have been summoned by the hokage." the masked ninja said, vanishing as silently as he had come.

Changing into his normal orange and blue jumpsuit, Naruto decided to eat some breakfast. Heating up some water for cup-ramen, Naruto began to water his plants. When the water was just about boiling, Naruto poured it into five cups and waited an agonizing three minutes for the ramen to cook.

--3.1 minutes later--

Naruto patted his stomach. After consuming the five cups of ramen, Naruto decided to go straight to visit Tenten and Iruka at the hospital, then go to the hokage tower.

As he was walking to the hospital and avoiding angry villagers he noticed a quaint looking flower shop. Going inside he noticed a slightly familiar looking girl with platinum blond hair and purple clothes on. The girl was currently leafing through a magezine with a bored look on her face.

"Welcome to the Yamanaka Flower Shop, can I hel- Naruto? What are you doing in here?" Ino asked.

Naruto scratched the back of his head, looking a little embarassed, "Well, actually I'm here to get some flowers for a freind."

This statement instantly lit up the nosy girl's eyes. "A girl?"

Naruto blushed, "Kinda, they're for Tenten really"

"Oooo, Naruto's got a crush." Ino giggled.

Appearing slightly flustered, Naruto loudly protested. Inside Naruto's head, a fit of laughter could be heard **"kukukukuku"**

Suddenly, Naruto was standing in the middle of a sewer, in front of a pair of large wooden doors with a seal near the top of it. Inside faint growling could be heard.

"What is this place?" Naruto asked, to no one in particular.

**"We are in your mind. A detestable place to be indeed, but" **the voice paused, **"let me introduce myself. I am the great Kyuubi no Kitsune, the great nine tailed demon fox, the lord of all darkness, who rules the firey pits of hell. Muhhahahhahahahaha. **A red claw the size of Ichiraku's ramen stand shook the bars, and Naruto could see the demon fox in all his glory, A huge red fox 100 meters tall with nine red tails swaying in the wind.

Naruto pointed "So you are the stupid furball that got me into this mess."

The gigantic fox's mouth curved into what appeared to be a smirk. _**This kits got guts for sure. I'm going to enjoy this. **_

**Bow down to me mortal, for I hold the power of life and death in my hands. **The kyuubi let out a furious bellow that shook the whole room.

Naruto was shaken by the masive killing intent radiating off of the Kyuubi.

"Listen here fuzzball, I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I'm going to be the next Hokage. So you don't scare me. I'll kick you're ass!" Naruto held a clenched fist in front of him as a challenge to the demon fox.

Kyuubi laughed again. **"Ok kit, ok... calm down. I just wanted to chat a bit. I've been stuck inside you for what, fourteen years, and you don't even come to visit me?"**

"Visit you? What the hell are you talking about? Up till yesterday, I didn't even know you were alive!" Naruto yelled "Ne, Kyuubi-tan, teach me a jutsu."

**"Uhh no. I'm a ten thousand year old demon lord of hell, not a jutsu library. I have learned a couple things in my brief interactions with humans over the centuries, however I will keep those to myself for now, but here is a novel idea. Use the library!"**

"The library huh? Uhh where is that?"

**"Go ask your mate, the brown haired vixen with the buns. I'm sure she knows the way." **

Naruto stuttered involuntarily at the mention of Tenten, before changing the subject, "That reminds me so everything Mizuki said is true..."

**"Yes, I am the Kyuubi and I nearly destroyed the village hidden in the leaves. I was sealed by a stupid blond haired ninja, much like yourself and ended up in this crap hole. But, that aside Kit, I called you here for a reason. Us meeting was no mere coincidence. It was Hitsuzen. We were fated to meet, you and I, we are tied together by the blood red bands of fate and I will grant your wish."**

"M-My wish?" Naruto asked.

**"Of course, the fact that you are here is proof of it, but that is for the future. Right now, I'm just here to pal around and drink."**

"Pal around! No way, that's it! I already have a wish, to become Hokage" Naruto screamed.

**"You say that with you're mouth, but not with your heart. You can't hide that kind of thing from me."**

"Well, I was just thinking about Iruka-sensei and Tenten-chan's faces, and for some reason I'm not sure about what I want anymore."

**"That's fine kit, you don't have to decide now, but you better get back to the real world. That blonde is getting worried about you. I'll contact you later" **Naruto watched as the sewer suddenly vanished before his eyes, leaving only the serene atmosphere of the flower shop behind.

Only then did Naruto notice Ino shaking him like a rag doll by the shoulders in an effort to wake him from his trance.

"Ino-chan, please! stop shaking me"

The other blond-haired ninja immediatly stopped and returned to her chair behind the counter. "Naruto, you idiot, you worried my sick. One minute I'm talking to you and then the next you zone out like you arn't even listening to me. I've been trying to wake you up for the last five minutes you baka!"

"Gomen, Ino-chan. I, uhh, must have had a heat stroke or something, uhh so can you help me pick out some flowers for Tenten?" Naruto gave his best fox grin and folded his arms behind his head.

Letting out a frustrated growl, Ino procceeded to find Naruto some flowers. Five minutes later, she emerged from the back room of the shop with a mixed bouquet of daffodils for affection, yellow poppies for freindship, dahlia for elegance, and and sunflowers for pure and lofty thoughts.(if you feel like you can look this stuff up on wikipedia under language of flowers, or hanakotoba)

Paying for the flowers and two get well cards, Naruto walked to Konoha's one and only hospital. Hastily he scribbled out two get well messages in his chicken-scratch writing for Iruka and Tenten.

First he paid a visit to Iruka, finding that the chunin was asleep he placed his card, where he would see it when he woke up. Closing the door, the young jinchiruki walked to Tenten's room. Naruto cracked the door open, Tenten appeared to be reading a Blank-for-dummies-book. Seeing she was awake and decent, Naruto burst into the room as loud and as abrasivly as he possibly could.

A vein buldged in Tenten's forehead as she heard the disturbance, and the bunhaired kunoichi was about to tell the intruder off.

Her eyes softened as she noticed the orange clothing and blond hair. "Naruto-kun, you came."

"Hai, Tenten-chan, I just wanted to see how you and Iruka-sensei were doing. I brought you some flowers and a card." Naruto gave his best fox grin, but it was clear that he was a little distressed at finding his two precious people in the hospital.

"That's sweet Naruto, thanks." Tenten took the card first. Opening it, Tenten tried to decipher Naruto's deplorable handwriting. Giving up, she thanked the blond haired boy for the thought, which is what really counts.

Setting the card near some other flowers and cards, from her teammates and friends, the most noticeable being a bouquet of flowers resembeling Gai's head, complete with huge eyebrows, Tenten took the bouquet of flowers from Naruto. After taking a whiff of there enticing aroma, she set them down near his card.

"The doctors say that I'll be fine to leave tommorow or the day after, I just had chakra exhaustion and a few broken ribs. Iruka-sensei had a pretty big hole in his back though, he might have to stay here for a week or so." Tenten turned her head to the left and looked out her window, towards bustling konoha below.

Naruto waited a moment, not wanting to break the silence. When Tenten finally turned her attention away from the window, Naruto told her about the hokage's summons of him.

"Is that bad? I'm not sure a meeting with the hokage is a good thing right after stealing a scroll housing some of konoha's most devestating jutsu." Tenten asked, worried.

Naruto scratched his head, "Don't worry about it, I'm sure that it'll be fine..." Naruto grew more somber "but even if I get kicked out of the village, or put under Anbu survellaince, I'll still become Hokage, no matter what Dattebayo!"

Tenten brought her hand up to her temple and shook her head slightly. _Naruto can be so single minded sometimes, I have a bad feeling about this meeting._ she thought.

"Well I'll tell you all about it tommorow when you get out anyways, I gotta go meet the old man now, bye Tenten-chan."

Opening Tenten's window, Naruto jumped outside, to the rooftops below, heading for the hokage tower.

_I hope you are right Naruto-kun, for your sake... _Tenten thought.

--

Leaping from rooftop to rooftop, Uzumaki Naruto made his way to the Hokage tower. Arriving at the red circular building, Naruto rushed through the doors leading to the hokage room.

"Halt demon boy, how dare you attempt to just walk in on the hokage! You must have an appointment to see hokage-sama." The Anbu guard said, holding Naruto by the scruff of his jacket.

"What are you talking about? You're the Anbu that told me I had a meeting today." Naruto responded.

The rabbit-masked-Anbu scratched the back of his head, "I have no recollection of such an errand."

"Bastards, I'm going to be Hokage one day, and then you'll all have to bow down to me. Take this, my mightiest technique! **Haremu Jutsu!(Harem jutsu)!"**

Naruto created several kage bunshins and then using the henge jutsu turned them into sexy, naked, girl versions complete with whiskers, blond hair in ponytails, and Japanese bath sauna smoke just barely obscuring the curvy feminine parts.

The two(male) Anbu went bug eyed at the sight of the many tantalizing female specimins. The girls proceeded to grope and fondle the two Anbu, causing blood to spurt in horrendous amounts from the two Anbu's noses, knocking off their masks and proppeling them through a wall to the ground below.

With the distraction now dealt with, Naruto walked into the Hokage's office. Like the many other times he had walked into the hokage's office, the young jinchiruki found himself in awe by the granduer of the room, the finest quality wooden furniture, the many knicknacks collected over the years, and the pictures of the Hokage that came before mounted on the walls, his future dwelling when he releaved Ji-san from his position. Naruto's eyes briefly glazed over.

"Naruto-kun" Sarutobi called, snapping the blond ninja-in-training out of his daydreams. "Sit down, please. I've called you here today for a special reason. I assume you know why you are here."

Naruto looked down at his chair, avoiding eye contact with the hokage. "Ano, Ji-san, you aren't going to kick me out of the village are you?"

Sarutobi laughed "Kick you out? I'm not going to do that. I just wanted to talk to you about the Kyuubi and what happened yesterday."

Naruto's face lit up like a firecracker, "I'm not going to get punished, yosh!"

"So you understand about your situation then?" Sarutobi asked

"Hai, Hai. Between Mizuki and the Kyuubi talking to me, I've got it all covered. The fourth Hokage sealed the demon Kyuubi into my stomach. That's why the villagers hate me."

"The kyuubi contacted you? That is interesting," the hokage took a long draught from his pipe, "Naruto, i want you to tell me if you are experiencing any mood swings, or are hearing strange things from Kyuubi ok? I'm going to trust that you are mature enough now to know when something as wrong."

Striking a serious face, Naruto saluted the hokage "Hai Ji-san! and I'll be back for your hat in no time!"

The hokage once again broke out in laughter at the young boy's antics "Naruto-kun, there is also the matter of your genin exams. I understand that due to a slightly curved grade you did not graduate with your class. I think that we may be able to make an exception in your case, but do not brag about this to your classmates, I can't make exceptions for everyone now."

Naruto's mouth dropped open, he couldn't beleive what he was hearing, that finally he, Uzumaki Naruto, would finally be able to graduate.

"I have a headband for you already Naruto-kun." Sarutobi fumbled around inside his hokage robe sleave until he found what he was looking for. "Ah, here you are, Naruto-kun."

He handed a slightly worn konoha hiate bound with a blue cloth. It looked like it had seen a good few years in service beforehand.

"Awhh Ji-san, why can't I have a new one, this one looks old." Naruto whined.

"Because Naruto-kun, this headband is special. It holds the hopes and dreams of another shinobi that too wished to become hokage." Sarutobi took another long puff from his pipe, looking up to the ceiling, as if remembering the days long past.

Naruto looked at the headband, understanding a bit more the meaning of this headband. "But, Ji-san, what happened to that shinobi? Did he become Hokage?"

"He died Naruto-kun, he died." Sarutobi responded sadly.

"O, I see." Naruto's attitude grew more sober. He clenched the headband in his hands.

"Ji-san, I'm going to take this hiate, and I'm going to fufill both our dreams. I'm going to become Hokage and bring peace to the land of fire for good." Naruto tied the headband to his forehead.

Sarutobi smiled, "I'm glad to hear it Naruto-kun, now go run along. The academy teams are being assigned today and I'd hate for you to miss meeting your sensei." The old man waved the young genin away with one hand.

"Hai" Naruto got up from his chair and walked slowly to the door.

"But you know, Ji-san, I would have liked to meet the owner, ya know? He sounds like a great guy" Naruto said, his hand on the doorknob, not looking back.

"You know Naruto-kun, I'm sure he would have liked to meet you too..."

--utop the hokage monument Sarutobi's head--

Once outside of the hokage tower, Naruto could no longer keep his melanholic demeanor. "Yosh! I'm going to be a ninja! Woo Hoo. Everyone that said that I couldn't do it piss off because I'm going to be the greatest Hokage ever!" Naruto screamed at the top of his lungs for over half an hour to the village below, while dancing like a crazed monkey.

--In the hospital--

Tenten put down her favorite book, _throwing kunai for dummies_, which she just finished reading for the thousandth time. She picked up Naruto's lovely bouquet, and inhaled it's sweet fragrence. She felt every single flower with her coarse bandaged hands, careful to avoid her splinted finger. In her preoccupance, a couple of daffodils managed to break free and fell out of bunch. Picking them up, Tenten hastily rearranged the flowers to what she thought was the proper position. A flash of color(other than yellow) caught her eye. In the middle of the bouquet, hidden by all of the other longer flowers was a budding red rose. Tenten blushed. A red rose was supposed to symbolize deep love. For a minute she wondered if the knuckleheaded blond was aware of that fact. Hearing, from across the village, Naruto shouting about his new found ninja rank and declarations to become hokage, Tenten decided...

definitely not.

--back to the hokage tower

Long after Naruto had left for this years team assignment, Sarutobi had finished all the paperwork for that day_ Naruto-kun, hurry and take my job. I'm not sure how much more paperwork I can take... _Deciding to get some fresh air utop the hokage's tower, Sarutobi opened the door leading to the hallway and the stairs up to the top of the tower and was astounded at the pure carnage which he beheld. The floor, ceiling, and walls of the hallway were stained by what looked like gallons of blood, and there were two holes in the wall shaped like the bodies of two Anbu, who should be guarding the hokage. Looking through the two holes, Sarutobi found the two Anbu knocked out, their masks askew, revealing there identities to the public, with blood trickling out their noses.

"Na-Ru-Toooooo!"

--AN notes--

--Japanese Honorifics/suffixs--

For all those who don't know basic Japanese or haven't watched any Japanese anime, I'm putting this section here, just so you don't get confused. I add the kuns and chans because it seems right and I think it really adds a bit of depth and insight into character relationships.

If you are confused by this or any other Japanese term I use here, please just email or pm me or review and I'll answer your questions to the best of my abilities

kun-attached to the end of boy's names, a term of endearment, most commonly used after the name of a boy, that a girl likes, such as her boyfreind.

chan-used as a term of endearment after girl's names, the female equivelent of kun, but sometimes also used for children. It is used by close freinds, Naruto uses the suffix -chan on most girls he meets, (exception of Sakura in Canon), not because he likes them but because he doesn't understand the closeness it implies.

sama-used to convey a high regard of respect. In Naruto, a commoner addressing a person of high standing, they would use the suffix sama. For instance, a commoner addressing the heir of the Hyuuga clan, would not call her Hinata, but Hyuuga-sama, as a way to show respect for the next head.

dono-conveys an even higher respect than sama. Not much too it but that, not as widely used as sama.

rin, tan- used at the end of a cute girl's name, to make the girl's name seem even cuter. An example would be a girl Chika calling herself, Chika-rin.

bozu-squirt, little guy, basically a brat.

senpai-an upperclassmen. In Japan the upper classmen have a certain obligation to help out the newer arrivals, of which their is no real western equivelent. An example is Yamato calling Kakashi, Kakashi-senpai, because he was Yamato's Anbu superior.

(blank)-yes even names without blanks contain a great deal of meaning. Though usually forgotten it implies a certain closeness, such as that between two very good freinds or such. Keep in mind, Japanese is a language very concerned with politeness. Calling someone unfamiliar to you by their first name or without the proper honorific is considered very impolite. Not impolite as in people think you are purposly being rude, but as in you weren't brought up correctly, if you speak Spanish an easier way to think of it is like not using the Ustedes form of a word when talking to someone of higher social standing. I guess the short form of that is when you leave the name without an honorific, especially the first name, you're either really close or an illbrought up moron, Naruto is the latter.

Thank you again all, for reading my story Descending Heaven. I apologize for any spelling errors, I'm typing this on Wordpad and it does not have spell check. For anybody that cares, I'm putting my other story temporarily on hold because I think this one has some definate potential to it and I have a lot of ideas for this story. Also, I'm a little lacking on insperation for my NaruHina story, even though they're my favorite pairing.

Thanks again

Ja Ne


	3. Dattebayo: Demons of the Mist

"All right road trip!" Naruto said, jumping up and down

"Don't forget about me Naruto. I'm tired of being a secondary character, Kishimoto can't ignore me forever, Dattebayo!" Tenten shouted enthusiastically.

"Tenten-chan, you did it again!" Naruto whined.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun, I was just feeling sad because Wikipedia deleted my article because I wasn't important enough, and saying your catchphrase cheers me up" Tenten cried, a stream of anime tears flowing from her eyes.

"Its alright Tenten-chan they deleted the list of all the jutsu and cut everyone elses articles in half, even me and I'm the star character! You can say dattebayo anytime you want to, I promise, I'll just say "beleive it" from now on- 'groan'. Bad American translation. 'Faint' " Naruto said and fainted.

"Now now kids, don't worry. You'll both get lost of attention in my fanfic." Hiro said in a calm voice.

"Ya, and I'll continue my search for a new catchphrase next chapter before the author's notes. Dattebayo! -Oops, I did it again, sorry Naruto-kun." Tenten clapped a hand over her mouth, turning a shade of red only Hinata could compete with."I'll just announce the disclaimer now:

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**Author's Note: **Sorry for the late update. Who reads Authors notes anyway? Anyways, I just started school again and I didn't feel like writing on top of all the homework I've been doing.

But recently I've been noticing the downward trend fanfictions fics are taking. Great writers are dropping out, such as DameWren, BlackWindKaze, and recently JohnnyG all fantastic writers, who are the backbone of this site. It makes me a little sad to see them go, that they have to drag their personal lives into their writing, but its unavoidable. So, I've been searching through fics recently, looking for good fics, but I havn't seen too many. Their chapters are 20 or 30 lines, they've no character development and they rush through everything. It makes me sad to see such great ideas wasted, I'm no genius writer myself, I don't even have microsoft word, but I'm willing to throw my lot in with the rest of them. I havn't been feeling all like writing recently, but with all the crappy fics I've been struggling to read, I got less and less interested in them, and more interested in my own writing. So here's the newest chapter. I'm sorry to rant on, but I really feel all the writers have to step their games up and take their writing to the next level, for their own sake and the sake of the readers. On a side note, I'm sorry this chapter isn't too interesting, but it'll hopefully get better as time goes on.

This is not a new chapter, one incredibebly intelligent reader pointed out to me that Iruka was supposed to be in the hospital, but I deleted the message already so I have no idea who it was. Thank you mysterious reviewer. You fixed a plothole in my story

**Summary- **In the last chapter, Naruto visited Tenten in the hospital and then met the hokage. The hokage gave Naruto his official Konoha headband and sent him off to be assigned to a genin team

--

"And team 7 is going to be composed of Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruto, their sensei will be Hatake Kakashi..." A substitute teacher(Iruka was still in the hospital) announced.

Naruto burst through the academy door at full speed, "I'm here!" The blond jinchiruki was to late to skid to a stop and instead toppled over the rows of the academy desks, tumbling through row after row until he landed in a twitching smoking heap at the bottom.

A vein in the teacher's forehead buldged, "You all are dismissed, please, locate the members of your squad and proceed together to your assigned rooms to wait for your teachers to pick you up."

One by one the fledgling ninjas of the hidden leaf rose from their chairs for the last time and headed out the classroom for lunch and to await their jonin instructors.

Sakura, noticing Naruto's current unconcious state, dragged the slightly charred looking pile of orange ninja by the foot to where their new sensei was supposed to meet them.

Hours passed and soon all the graduates had left with their teachers, to pass the time Sakura tried to wake up the unconcious Naruto by repeadidly slapping him, the unconcious Naruto, being unconcious did not respond, and Sasuke, being the broody dark avenger bastard that he was folded his hands together (like Mr. Burns), put on a deep frown, squinted slightly, like he was looking at something not quite there, and struck a broody pose, thinking bloodthirsty, and slightly gay, thoughts about a certain relative of his...

When finally Sakura was about to give up hope and go home, the door slid back to reveal a gray haired jonin, whose hair seemed to defy gravity. He had a mask covering most of his face and his konoha headband over one of his eyes.

"I'm sorry I'm a little late... I was on a mission rescuing a princess in the land of snow, and bringing and relocating her in Konoha, and got side tracked on the road of life." The cyclopian jonin smiled with his eye and rubbed the back of his head a little, "So let's meet up on the roof and we can get to know each other" The jonin vanished in a puff of smoke and a rustle of leaves.

Sakura, in her haste to comply with her sensei's wishes accidentaly brushed the shoulder of Sasuke on her way out the door. The emo-bastard at first appeared indifferent to his teammates touch, then he started to slant to his left, still motionless. Then, the raven haired Uchiha bastard tipped over, unable to move.

Worried, Sakura asked "Sasuke-kun, are you ok?"

When he did not answer, Sakura covered her face with both hands, horrified that she had accidentaly hurt her crush. Posing in one spot for hours, had, apparently caused most of Sasuke's body muscles to seize up, and his jaw and face muscles to contract what seemed to be akin to rigor mortis(1)

_"I guess what my mom said was true... If you make a face like that, your face might stay that way. O poor Sasuke-kun..." _Sakura thought.

_**Hell Ya! This is our chance! **_Inner Sakura thought, _**both Sasuke-kun and baka-Naruto are unable to move. We can totally take advantage of Sasuke and kiss him. Shannaro! **_Inner Sakura screamed.

Giving in to her inner self, Sakura crept closer to Sasuke, then hesitated. She could see two beady black eyes follow her movements. _Sasuke-kun is still concious, nooooo!_ Sakura cried, weeping anime style tears, _Naruto, this is all his fault _she thoughtTaking a black felt marker from who-knows-where, she began to draw all over Naruto's face. She etched glasses, devil horns, sqiggaly lines, and stars all over Naruto's face.

_**Ha Take That, Shannaro!"**_(2)Sakura and inner Sakura thought.

By the time Sakura was done with her masterpeice of art, Sasuke had overcome his muscle failure. The blue-clothed stuck up bastard dusted himself off and

not making any acknowledgment of either Sakura or his recent inability to move, headed up to the roof of the academy building.

Sakura, eager to apologize to Sasuke, ran up the stairs to catch up to her teammate. Opening the shabby-looking wooden door, which led to the roof top, Sakura was about to apologize for being late when she saw the mysterious grey haired jonin, sitting comfortably on a metal rail, reading a small orange book with some words on the cover that Sakura didn't catch, blushing and giggling occasionaly. The words already in her throat died at the strange sight.

Without looking up from his reading material, Kakashi asked " Where's the third member of the team?"

Suddenly it struck Sakura, she had left an unconcious Naruto down in the room they had been waiting in, not too long ago. The hopeless kunoichi ran full speed down the stairs to find Naruto.

--back with Naruto--

"Huhhh? Whas Happenin" Naruto mumbled as he awoke. Already most of the mottly assortment of bruises he had taken from the fall were completely faded away, a testament to the fox's power. The young blonde slowly sat up and wiped the sleep from his eyes.

"Na-Ru-Too!" a voice yelled, apparently very much pissed off.

"Huh, woose that?" Naruto had no time to react as a certain pink haired konoichi burst into the room. Ripping the japanese style door off its hinges, Sakura, without checking as to the state of Naruto, proceeded to take said blonde haired ninja by the leg and once again drag him, but at full force, up the six flights of stairs to the rooftop. Naruto's head bounced against each stair, and a small part of him counted each bump _Ichi, ni, san, yon, go, roku..._

Naruto struggled, flailed, and screamed, up the six long staircases, all to no avail, as Sakura wasn't paying attention in the slightest. She had lost face in front of her new sensei and her crush, all because of one stupid baka. Once she reached the top Sakura kicked down the flimsy door, that seperated her from the rooftop, and still fuming threw Naruto, face first out onto the rooftop. The blond jinchiruki's head swelled to several times its normal size, and it appeared he had suffered a concussion on the way up the stairs.

Kakashi sweatdropped at seeing the seemingly-dead orange ninja in front of him. He rubbed the back of his head. "So, let's each introduce ourselves..."

"I'm Hatake Kakashi, and I have hobbies. As for my like and dislikes I'd rather not share. Hmmm, I never really thought about a dream... You next pinky"

"Hello, I'm Sakura Haruno. I like(stares at Sasuke), I dislike Naruto and Ino-pig. My dream is (stares at Sasuke and giggles)."

"I am, an ave- I mean I am Uchiha Sasuke. I have no likes and I dislike many things. My dream, no ambition, is to kill a certain man..."

_Great... A fan girl, and an avenger... Kakashi thought_ "So, what about this guy?" He pointed to the lump of bruises, formarly known as Naruto.

The three ninja staired at Naruto... "Ji, ji, ji" The three ninja chorused for about 30 seconds(3). When it became apparent that he would not wake up anytime soon, Kakashi rubbed the back of this head again, "So what about this guy?" Kakashi asked again.

When noone responded, Sakura said "Umm... Sensei, I'm not sure. I know his name is Uzumaki Naruto, but besides that I do not know very much about him." Sasuke grunted likewise.

"Well that is a problem... Hmmm..." Kakashi thought for a minute, then shrugged "Well, when this brat recovers tell him that survival exercises are tommorow, don't eat breakfast cause you just might lose it."

The odd, perverted jonin vanished in a puff of smoke and a rustle fo leaves, leaving two very confused genin and one unconcious one behind...

--

The daty after team seven was formed for the first time, Kakashi held the bell test and by some small stroke of luck, the ragtag team passed through the "power of teamwork."

--Ichiraku's Ramen Stand--

"So you're stuck with an emo bastard, a weak fangirl, and a cyclopian jonin..." Tenten said, picking at her pork ramen "that sucks..."

"Kakashi-sensei's bell test sucked even worse. The whole point of the exercise was teamwork, so how does sharing food count as working as a team. Its not like we came up with a plan and then beat him."

"You guys were lucky it was only taking bells away from Kakashi. Our assignment was to land a hit on Gai-sensei. HE made us chase him for three days straight over cliffs and rivers, all over the place, at full speed before Neji finally caught him."

"How does that qualify you to be genin?"

Tenten paused before saying "I think he was trying to test our persistance to succeed."

"Ya, I wish I was on your team Tenten-chan..." Naruto said.

Tenten laughed like she thought Naruto was crazy "No way, I have to deal with two spandex clad, bowl cut wearing crazies, who yell about the flames of youth all day and train like crazy, and the only 'sane' person on my team is an annoying Hyuuga, whos every remark has to do with his destiny."

Naruto stared deep into his ramen bowl, as if the answers to all of lifes questions could be solved by ramen

"Ya, I wish I was on your team Tenten-chan..."

" I agree. Dattebayo!" Tenten said.

"Hey you cant say Dattebayo, Tenten-chan! Thats my endearing character trait." Naruto whined.

--

A month or so had passed for the hidden village in the leaves. During that month, Naruto began to be able to telepathically hear and speak to Kyuubi. Despite the fact that the Kyuubi was often drunk or said perverted things, Naruto soon grew to like being able to speak to the kitsune. They had developed as mentor and student, but also as freinds.

"Emo-man, Sakuzilla, this is godaime, in position over."

"Next time, I'm picking the code names Naruto."

"Fine, fine. We'll talk about that later." Naruto said, back to one of konoha's many trees.

"On three we'll converge on the target, alright" Sakura asked.

"Roger"

"Roger"

"3, 2,- Naruto wait, I'm not done counting"

"Ikuze! Come here you" said Naruto, interupting Sakura.

The blond haired ninja charged straight for the target, not using one iota of the ninja stealth or skill he possesed.

However, the little cat scampered away with blinding speed, evading the blond ninjas clutches.

"You think you're smart cat! Well, you just met your equal!" Naruto dived for the cat and missed, skidding to a halt in the dirt. Then suddenly a puff of smoke enveloped Naruto, and another three Narutos jumped out of the trees and grabbed the frightened cat.

"Got you. Ah stop scratching me! What the hell! Get off of me, you stupid cat. Ahhh!" Naruto screamed as their whiskered freind attempted to gouge out Naruto's eyes using its claws.

"Thats what you get dobe for going ahead of plan. " Sasuke smirked.

--Back at the Mission Distrubution Center--

"Ahh another mission completed. Good job as always" the Third said, taking a deep draught from his pipe.

"I have another mission for you three. Its a D rank. Apparently, an elderly lady needs her garden weeded." Iruka smiled.

"No forget it, I won't. These missions all suck. We've done like 20 missions already. I'm so bored. Give us a good mission already, I want to see some action. Dattebayo!" Naruto practically yelled at the top of his lungs and sat down, crosslegged.

Kakashi sighed "Naruto, stop being stubborn."

Iruka folded his arms and closed his eyes,"Naruto, genin like you are only allowed to take D class missions and if the hokage thinks you've gained enough experience maybe a C class, but seriously its only been a few weeks you can't expect to really get an exciting mis-"

"I'll give you three a C rank mission." the hokage said, his face making it more than apparant he wasn't joking.

"Alright!" Naruto jumped at least a foot into the air.

"On one condition" the third said.

Naruto face vaulted from a foot in the air.

Sasuke rolled his eyes "Baka"

Naruto instantly stood up, uninjured and began arguing with the number one rookie.

"Um, Hokage-sama. What condition" Sakura asked.

"You will take an additional teammate for this mission." Sarutobi expelled a puff of smoke from his pipe "Ame Tenten with you. It seems her sensei Maito Gai and his pupil Rock Lee, are going on an how did they put it, ah, here it is "**The Super** **Extreme Youthful Mission of Burning Youthfulness to Find Their Inner Youthfulness as Great Youthful Beasts of Konoha, in Which They Train Very Hard, A Lot, Training Mission**." Normally I wouldn't want a Jonin sensei singling out one pupil, however seeing as how it is a sacred tradition of the leaf village dating back to the second hokage I didn't refuse. Her other teammate Neji has some clan duties and will otherwise be occupied. So she will be accompanying you four on your mission to the land of waves."

"Hokage-sama, you can't be serious, they don't have the-" Iruka spluttered.

The fire shadow of the leaf village silenced him with a wave of his grizzled hand "I beleive in them Iruka, and besides I think that a trip outside the village would do Naruto-kun here some good." he said with a hint of mirth in his voice.

"Hai Hokage-sama. Team 7, you will be assigned to escort a famous bridgebuilder, Tazuna to his home country in the land of waves." Iruka read off of the small mission scroll, marked with a big red "C" on it.

"Cool, a real famous person from the land of waves huh? Allright this is awsome. Dattebayo" Naruto yelled "Who is it, who is it? A fuedal lord, a beautiful princess?"

"Calm down I'm about to introduce him. Please come in Tazuna-san" The hokage motioned with his arm for the client outside the room to come in.

A rather shabby looking old man in his 50s walked into the room, clutching a half empty bottle of booze, "I don't like any of them. They all look like brats to me, especially the short one with a big mouth."

"Who's the short one with the big mouth. Haha what a los- hey wait" Naruto yelled as the realization that he was that he was the one being made fun of.

"Come on Naruto, your going to get left behind." Kakashi, Sakura, Sasuke said together.

--

"Are we there yet" Naruto and Sakura whined in unison. Naruto, Sakura, and Tenten walked side by side on the path to the land of wave, trailing after Kakashi and Sasuke. It was 90 degrees F and the three genin were dead tired.

"No" Tenten sighed "I wish we were. All this walking is tiring"

Tenten whiped some sweat off her brow "This heat is scorching. I wish I had some wa-"

Tenten pointed to a puddle of water to the side of the road team seven was walking on to Naruto and Sakura. The orange and pink ninjas nodded silently to show they understood.

"Now" Tenten threw an entire set of kunai at the puddle and surrounding bush.

From the puddle emerged two mist ninja wearing cloaks and special aquatic breathing masks for underwater survival. Each brother wore one large claw dripping in poisen and the claws themselves were attached by the way of a steel chain.

The demon mist brothers easily blocked the kunai with their claws and launched themselves with blinding speed towards Kakashi. The jonin was torn like a paper tissue into a hundred peices by the brothers chain attack.

At the sight of his sensei being kiled Naruto froze, he couldn't move or even breathe all he could think about was the blood and carnage he had just witnessed.

"Naruto snap out of it!" Tenten yelled as she threw three kunai to pin the brother's chain to a nearbye tree, while Sasuke jumped on the two brothers claws and kicked them square in the face, breaking their chain but earning a scratch on the leg from a claw. Roused by Tenten's words Naruto snapped out of it and delevered a punch into the gut of one of the ninja brothers, sending him towards another tree. The ninja impacted the tree with a crunch and Tenten threw sawedged kunai at the unfortunate brother, the serrated edges literally nailing him to the tree.

"Now for the other one" Naruto and Tenten chorused.

"Eeek!" Sakura screamed at the top of her lungs.

The two lovebirds-to-be turned to the direction of the sound. The remaining demon brother slashed Sasuke across the collarbone and ran towards a terrified Sakura, who was guarding old man Tazuna, his claw held menacingly at neck level. Just as he was about to skewer Sakura an orange blur intercepted the mist chunin sending him flying off into the forest.

Sasuke, who was still injured from the slash earlier, struggled to get to his feet still fighting the effects of the poisen from the claws. As he saw Naruto and Tenten head into the forest, Sasuke thought_ I can't let him get away. If I can't defeat that ninja, I'll never be able to kil my brother. _Just as Sasuke was about to rise to his feet, a hand settled on his head forcing him back to the ground, A hand wearing black fingerless gloves.

--

Flexing his claw as if in impatience, the slightly insane mist ninja called out "Here little piggies. Come out so I can rip you to shreds..."

Suddenly, on the oppisite side of the clearing Tenten and Naruto appeared, side by side posing, Naruto with his right arm held out in a fist and Tenten crossing her arms with three kunai in one and shuriken in another.

"Do you think we're getting better at this posing thing, Naruto-kun" Tenten asked, her eyes not moving from the other ninja.

"Nope." Naruto answered, his voice cheerful, "Ano, Tenten-chan is this the right time to be talking about this?"

"You're right. 'Sigh' We'll just have to finish him off then" Tenten said flicking her weapons at the chunin.

"Finish who off? I'm just getting warmed up" the mist ninja exclaimed as the weapons hit his body, which slowly dissolved into a puddle of water behind a puddle in his place.

"**Mizu Bunshin(Water Clone)?" **Tenten gasped as blood trickled out her mouth, a hole in her stomach.

"Tenten No!" Naruto screamed before he met the same fate as the bunhaired kunoichi.

"Stupid brats. A little trick like that killed them so easily" The mist ninja sneered, laughing maliciously.

"Whoa, this guys getting scary Tenten-chan." A decidedly orange voice rang from somewhere in the forest.

Startled the ninja turned around, looking for the direction of the voice, "What but I killed you? How?"

Finally the stupified chunin turned to the decapitated bodies of the genin, only to find them vanish in a puff of smoke"Wh-where are you! I hate little brats, who think they're ninja. I'll tear you to peices. Gargh!"

"I agree" Another voice answered, this one female, "We shouldn't play around any more or we might be in trouble"

From behind another tree left of the chunin, Tenten and Naruto emerged unscathed.

"Right! No more fulling around! **Taiju** **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu( Mass Shadow Clone Technique)**" Naruto's hands formed the familiar cross shape and ninetynine Narutos surrounded the clearing, grinning.

**Henge!(Transform) **every Naruto vanished leaving Tenten standing in the clearing, kunai littered all around her. Gathering chakra in her hands, Tenten created chakra wires and attached them to every kunai.

Tenten spun gracefully in a circle, the kunai following obediantly until she had whipped them into a whirlwind twenty feet in diameter.

"Now" she cried, her brow furrowed in concentration as she whipped the strings in a complicated motion, each kunai flying high into the air and then stopping suddenly. The mist ninja watched silently, his claw fidgiting nervously.

Suddenly all the kunai shot downward towards the demon brother.

**"Kai(Release)!" **Each of the hundred Narutos transformed back into their original shapes, hurtling like missles towards the mist ninja, tackling the mist ninja shoulder first. Then, the clones each kicked the mist ninja up into the air.

Tenten jumped off of one of the Naruto clones into the air and summoned a giant spiked mace. With a vicious scream, the bunhaired kunoichi swung the mace, sending him flying into the ground.

They each reached into their pouches and threw a handful of shuriken at the mist ninja.

Immediatly, Tenten's hands went through a short flurry of handseals, "**Kage Shuriken Jutsu!(Shadow Shuriken Technique)" **

The weapons multiplied from a thousand shuriken into a million, raining down on the defensless mist ninja, effectivly killing him eight times over.

"**Koku Rendan( black rain combo)" **Tenten sighed as her wobbly knees collapesed underneath her, immensly tired from the immense shadow replication.

The Narutos vanished out of existance, leaving only the real one left. The remaining orange ninja jumped from branch to branch, landing beside an exhausted Tenten "Tenten-chan, are you ok?"

"I'm ok... its just that was the first person I've ever seriously aimed to kill and we ended up doing it, " Tenten said as she whiped a tear from her eye.

"Don't cry Tenten-chan. We had to protect Old Man Tazuna, there was no other way." Naruto said, tears welling in his eyes too as he tried to look away from the skewered ninja.

"I know I'm being silly. Its just I can't help crying" Tenten said softly, tears now pouring from her eyes "Look who's talking, you're crying too."

"I-I am not!" Naruto said, "but... Iruka-sensei says that crying occasionally is a good thing. He says it means we still have our humanity."

"I know" Tenten agreed, whiping the tears from her eyes.

"I'm here for you, Tenten-chan" Naruto hugged the emotionally and physically exhausted girl as they both whept for the unlucky foreign ninja they never knew.

"Well, well, how touching, crying over little old me?"

Naruto and Tenten gasped as the now familiar voice laughed again.

"I'm flattered." Tenten's red eyes widened as she saw a familar black claw appear behind Naruto's head. "And you're dead!"

--

1. rigor mortis is a condition affecting dead bodies. Because the jaw remains motionless over the couple days the body has been lifeless, the teeth and jaw clench up and are very difficult to move without damaging the skull. Sasuke has this because he has been frowning since Iruka handed out the team assignments 7 or 8 hours ago.

2.Shannaro is usually what inner Sakura ends her sentences with in the Japanese versions. It is replaced with "Cha" in the english remakes, and has no literal translation. I usually take it to mean something like hell ya.

3. Ji means in Japanese "Stare"

--

What do you guys think?.

Mostly filler I guess, most of the real fighting and stuff will happen later.

I apologize for Sasuke fans, but I personally hate the guy with a passion and feel that I must use the word bastard to describe him any time I am not addressing him as Sasuke.

How is that for a chapter cliffhanger... Anyway I hoped you like it and if you didn't I apologize, I tried not to make Naruto and Tenten seem too powerful in their fight against the demon brothers. Origionally I was going to post the battle with Zabunza with this chapter, but I broke it up so I could ask you guys a question.

So guys and girls, read and review if you want too. I'm looking for advice if I should include Haku in Naruto's pairing as well as Tenten. If I do end up doing that, I promise I wont make Haku so dependent on Naruto that she would starve herself or something in the event he left. It would be something like Shizune and Tsunade, not that I'm saying they'll fall for each other, or Saber and Shirou(from fate stay night). Haku would look after Naruto and listen to him, but she wouldn't be so dependent on him. She would do what she thought was the best for Naruto and for herself, regardless of what he said because lets face it, Naruto doesn't always think clearly. Tell me what you think and thanks for reading!

Ja Mata!

Ja Ne


	4. Lies Deception, and Truth

"Tenten how has your search for a catchphrase going?" Naruto asked Tenten as they ate ramen at Ichiraku's.

Tenten shook her head in frustration and hopelessness, "Maybe I should just give up."

**"Dynamic Entry!"** two green blurs exploded into the clearing kicking Naruto high into the sky, who flew into the distance with a ping of light.

**"MY YOUTHFUL STUDENT TENTEN."** Guy screamed at the top of his lungs, his head filling a quarter of the screen,** "I have the perfect catch phrase for you and Naruto can join in it too! Bwahahahaha. WE will be the first ones to enter your contest of Youuth!! YOUUTHHH!" **

"Can you guys stop yelling. I'm losing my hearing!" Tenten yelled back while covering her ears.

**"I AM SORRY TENTEN, BUT DO TO THE YOUTHFUL TRAINING GUY-SENSEI AND I HAVE UNDERTAKEN WE CANNOT STOP YELLING BECAUSE OF OUR **

**OVERFLOWWWWWING YOOOOUUUTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHH!" **Lee screamed, back even louder than guy,fire in his eyes, deafening Tenten.

"Yosh Lee. You have surpassed me with your youthful shouting! It must be the SpringTime of Youth! I'm so proud" Guy said, tears rolling down his face.

"Lee!" Guy said

"Guy-sensei!" Lee said

"Lee!" Guy said

"Guy-sensei!" Lee said

"Guys stop it" Tenten said

"where was I? right, Lee!" Lee said

"Guy-sensei?" Guy said

"Lee! " Lee said

"Guy-sensei!" Guy said

"Lee!" Lee said

"Guy-sensei" Guy said

"Fire!" Tenten threw a spiked bombs at the two crying Taijutsu specialists.The bomb blew up with tremendous force . When it subsided, their precious shiny black bowl cuts were frazzled and standing straight up, as if they had been electrocuted. Lee stood there, his hair standing straight up, babbling from the sheer concussive force released by Tenten.

"Yosh! I see you too have been training while we wear away, Tenten. Good! You're youth far surpasses ours right now, but rest assured we'll be back before you know it. Gahahahahah. Youuuuuth!" and Guy picked up Lee, like a surfboard, and comically ran towards the nearest training ground laughing madly and yelling about the spring time of youth.

Tenten could only stare as she watched Guy and Lee retreat.

From the same direction a slightly frayed looking Naruto walked back to Ichiraku's. The orange ninja stopped and watched as Guy and Lee rushed past him.

"So what I miss?"

--

I do not own Naruto or the franchise.

**Author's Note: **Thanks to all who reviewed again. I know I might sound like a broken record but I do enjoy reading the reviews you guys give me and I always try to thank you guys appropriatly. Thanks to EroEro Kitsune for his review especially. He corrected me on my spelling of Zabuza. I had been spelling it Zabunza. It was so much fun correcting that one letter, especially since it came up every other line or so. I think I fixed all of the mispellings but dont count on it. O by the way, I think I'm going to change Naruto, and Tenten's age to 14 and 15 respectfully for no other reason than I think it would be weird for 12 year olds to think about perverted things like some of the stuff later on and that I find it hard that they subject kids to so much death at such a young age. It will have no direct impact on this story, but you know think what you guys want. I usually just take it for granted but I wanted to let you guys know.

**Summary-**Naruto and co. started their mission to the land of the waves. On the way their the demon brothers from the land of the mist attacked the group in an attempt to kill Tazuna, the famous bridgeworker, however, Naruto, Tenten, and Sasuke manage to fight off the brothers. When one escapes, the blond and brown haired ninjas chase after him and defeat him with their black rain combo. Or did they?

--

Naruto and Tenten sat in the middle of the forest, Tenten's face buried in Naruto's shoulder, both of them weeping tears of regret.

""Well, well, how touching, crying over little old me?"

Naruto and Tenten gasped as the now familiar voice laughed again.

"I'm flattered!" Tenten's red eyes widened as she saw a familar black claw appear behind Naruto's head. "And you're dead!"

Tenten could feel Naruto's arms tense around her as the jagged claw hovered inches from the back of his head. The weapon kunoichi closed her eyes,waiting for the fatal blow to come, too scared to think about moving. When death did not come Tenten opened her eyes slowly.

"Kakashi-sensei!" she gasped.

The jonin had pinned the unlucky chunin by the neck against a tree with one hand and holding a kunai to his neck with the other.

"You two did a good job. Using chakra wires to direct the kunai thrown by the clones and performing a Kage Shuriken while not being in contact with an object is a high caliber of ninjutsu, something I'd have trouble with. But you made a careless error. When this guy first attacked, you thought he was a water clone and that the real one was behind you, waiting to attack. However, in reality he had henged himself into a puddle of water and waited while you finished off his water clone. Once you two had exhausted yourselves, he dispelled the henge and attacked. If not for me you'd both be dead..." Kakashi explained

"Are you alright?" Kakashi asked, serious for once.

"We're fine Kakashi-sensei'" Naruto said.

"I wasn't talking to you" Kakashi said coldly.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said, not understanding why Kakashi was acting strangely to him.

" we're both fine, really" Tenten said.

"Good. Lets head back then... "

--back with Tazuna--

"Sasuke take this medicine. It'll alleviate the poisen's affects" Kakashi handed the younger ninja a small green pill.

"Aren't you going to give Naruto some too? He was scratched in the fighting also" Sakura asked

"No. His er-ability gives him immunity to poisens." the silver haired jonin said.

"Though if it didn't, he'd be long dead by now" Kakashi added silently.

Sakura asked "Kakashi-sensei, I saw you ripped into pieces by that chain. How did you manage to survive?"

"It was a simple **Kawarimi jutsu(Replacement** **Technique)**." Sasuke explained.

"Right Sasuke. Good job figuring that out, a true ninja must always look underneath the underneath."

Tenten glared at Kakashi behind his back, her eyes narrowing with dislike.. From the minute she saw him, she new from her instincts that this man was biased against Naruto, but then why did the Third put him on this mans team. It didn't make any sense.

"Oi, Tenten-chan"

A voice snapped Tenten out of her musing, "What is it Naruto-kun?"

"Kakashi-sensei talked with Old man Tazuna and we're going to continue with the mission. Ok?"

"Alright Naruto-kun. Let's go then, the others are getting away from us" Tenten said, dragging Naruto by the arm to their companions already well down the road to the land of waves.

--At Gatou's hideout--

"Zabuza, what's the meaning of this! The demon brothers we're taken out by those Konoha ninja! You're supposed to take care of this!" The short corrupt bussiness man screamed, yelling at the other man.

The other man did not respond at first, as if waiting for Gatou to get more irritated. Finally, he drew his huge cleaver sword from his back and stood. He was a menacing figure dwarfing than Kakashi with a cloth wrapped over the lower half of his face. His scratched headband labled him as a missing ninja from the land of the mist.

"Zabuza! Answer Me!" the little man screamed.

Zabuza stretched to his full height, and hefted his zanbatou on his shoulder with ease

"Don't worry Gatou. This time I'll go. And by this time tommorow, they'll all be dead. Just remember to have our money ready when we're done. Let's go Haku."

From within the shadows in the corner of the room materialized out a third person, this one a feminine young hunter ninja, wearing a white mask with wave design on it. Gatou and his samurai henchmen stepped back in fright.

"Hai, Zabuza-sama"

--

"Aha, over there!" Naruto threw a kunai into a rustling bush.

A small white rabbit with an odd red mark on the lower half of its face hopped out, narrowly missing the blade.

"It's just a rabbit Naruto no _baka_!" Sakura said.

"No way, I swear I could have heard something, you heard it, neh Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi walked on, ignoring Naruto's comments, thinking to himself_ That rabbit back there was unusually white for this time of year. Its summer so the rabbits coat should still be brown colored. Almost as if-_

"Everyone Duck!"

As if on cue. a giant sword came rushing by, straight over there heads, until it embedded itself deep within a tree. Zabunza appeared, standing atop his sword.

**"Watch out kit. I sense something special about this guys sword, he's stronger than anyone we've faced yet."**

"Copy Ninja Hatake Kakashi, of the Sharingan Eye. How nice to finally meet you."

"Momoichi Zabuza, ex-jonin of the village hidden in mist. What are you doing here?" Kakashi asked, lifting his headband to activate his Sharingan.

"The sharingan already? I'm flattered." Zabuza leaped from the tree, pulling his sword from the bark as he fell, "Shall we start then?"

Zabuza rushed in, aiming to chop Zabuza's head straight off. Kakashi at the last second blocks with his kunai and slashes Zabuza, who becomes a water clone. The real Zabuza then proceeds to slash Kakashi, who in turn becomes a water clone. The two switch off appearing behind each other and dissolving into water clones.

"Thats it! Im tired of all this waiting around. They're doing the same trick over and over. I'm gonna knock his head off" Naruto said and leaped into the fray "**Taiju** **Kage Bunshin Jutsu(Multi Shadow Clone technique)**." A hundred other Naruto's appeared in midair along with him. "Attack!"

Zabuza and Kakashi looked up from their little death match to see the rain of orange ninja come down on them. Kakashi's one eye widened. The clones came down with suprising force, punching and kicking whatever they could get their hands on until a big ball of dust concealed all the fighting (think pokemon), revealing only a face or arm occasionaly.

"I got one" a Naruto punched as hard as he could, landing a solid hit on a jaw that didn't puff into smoke, knocking a body outside the fray and onto the surface of the water.

"Naruto you baka, that was Kakashi-sensei" Sakura shouted.

"Whups, I guess I got carried away" Naruto scratched the back of his head, embarressed. "Where is that eyebrowless freak, **Kai(Dispell)**"

The clones dispelled to reveal, nothing, except a lot of water. "Man they got me again" Naruto sighed, deppressed at being tricked.

Out on the lake Kakashi stood up, shrugging off the genin's punch. Sensing danger, Kakashi looked around only to find himself trapped in a sphere of water.

**"Suiro no Jutsu(Water Prison)" **Zabunza smirked. Kakashi was trapped within a sphere of water unable to escape. "Now to take care of the brats **Mizu Bunshin(Water Clone)**" A mirror image of Zabunza appeared out of the water, and walked towards the ninja quartet.

"Everyone run, he can't move with the water prison intact and his water clones can't stay far from the origional" Kakashi said, somehow through the water.

**"Kit do you need my help?"** the Kyuubi asked, ready to send his chakra through the seal.

"Nah, I've got this one Kyuubi. It'll be a piece of cake cause I gotta plan."

**"That would be a first." **the Kyuubi snickered.

"Shut up Kyuubi**-TAN**!" Naruto snapped mentally at the Kyuubi.

"Sakura stay back and protect the old man and Sasuke. One feeble and old and the other ones Tazuna. We'll handle this." Naruto stepped forward clenched his fists, shrugging off his orange jacket, leaving only the black shirt underneath on. Let's go Tenten.

_When did Naruto get so cool? He used to be such an idiot. _Sakura thought from beside Tazuna _Even Tenten-san and him are stronger than me. I'm useless._

"Wow, maybe this kid really could become Hokage" Tazuna said, then as an after thought_ Hey, I wonder where I could get more sake?_

"One more time!** Kage Bunshin no Jutsu(Shadow Clone Technique)!**" Four Naruto's appeared beside the origional in a cross formation. "Here we go!"

Two Naruto's rushed Zabuza, attacking from the sides and were easily destroyed by one slash from Zabunza's headcleaver, leaving behind only smoke. A third Naruto rushed forward aiming a punch at the water clones' midsection. Before he was slashed to peices, another Naruto jumped off his back into the air into a spinning motion.

"Heh, child's play" the clone of Zabuza took out three kunai and threw them towards Naruto. "What!"

Naruto stuck his tongue out of his mouth and pulled his right eyelid down. The last clone jumped up, grabbed the orange ninja by the midsection and hurled him down at the water clone, "**Bunshin Taiatari!(clone body slamming)"**

"He changed his trajectory in the air using that shadow clone and gained velocity doing it" the clone muttered, stunned before Naruto tackled the clone with humongous force. Taking the opening, Tenten drew from her summoning scrolls her father's prized katana. The weapons mistress unsheathed the sword, slashed, and then sheathed her sword in one swift move, easily dispatching the mist ninja.

"Now for the real one!" Naruto tossed Tenten a fuma shuriken.

Tenten nodded and pulled out another fuma shuriken from her ninja supply pouch. Stacking it on top of the one she already had, Tenten threw the blade with deadly accuracy. Sure enough Zabuza dodged both the shuriken, but Naruto who had turned into the shuriken managed to catch Zabuza off guard, enabling Kakashi to escape.

Zabuza seeing he was outmatched turned to flee. Just as the masked jonin was about to escape, two senbon appeared, almost seeming to sprout out of the nukenin's neck, killing him instantly.

From atop a tree a white masked hunter nin appeared, "I'm truely sorry for stealing your kill; However I wanted to have the pleasure with dealing away with Zabuza myself."

Kakashi approached the motionless body checking for a pulse, there was none. Zabuza was dead. The copy ninja pulled his forhead protector down, once again concealing his sharingan.

"Well then, I'll be off to dispose of the remains. Thank you for cooperating" the hunter nin said, picking up the dead body and teleporting away with a rustle of leaves.

"What was with that guy? We work our asses off to beat the shit out of Zabunza and he takes the guy out in what? two moves! Do we just suck or something"

Naruto asked.

"Calm down Naruto. This probably isn't the last time you'll meet someone as young as you and stronger than me." Kakashi said, smiling with one eye.

"Now let's get going" Kakashi took out his orange book and began walking forward only to fall face first onto the ground, unable to move.

"What are you falling down for? You didn't even really do anything" Tenten asked, obviously still annoyed.

After Zabunza was succesfully defeated the tired, battle scared, team 17, (7+10), crashed at Old Man Tazuna's house, while he works on the bridge. During that time, Kakashi recovers from his use of the sharingan eye and the rest of team 17, minus Sasuke, uncussefully try to unmask the sleeping jonin several times, each ending in failure.

"Are you alright teacher?" Tsunami, Tazuna's attractive 28 year old daughter, asked the cyclopian jonin.

"No, but I will be in about a week" Kakashi responded.

"Kakashi-sensei, I can't get my mind off that masked kid. What's with him" Sakura asked.

"That particular mask is worn by the hunter nin squad of the village hidden in mist. Their job is to dispose of the remains of any missing ninja from their village. A shinobi's corpse can be like a book, and from that corpse other villages can learn the hidden villages secrets. In the same way, if I were killed and my body was found. They could learn everything unique about the sharingan, and maybe even replicate it. "

"So Zabuza's body was dismembered and destroyed? Thats so creepy" Sakura shivered.

--Somewhere in the Forest Near the land of the wave--

The white masked black haired ninja pulled a nasty pair of scissors out of a tool pack, sitting beside Zabunza's corpse"I'll just unwrap the outer bandages so the blood can flow better and-"

"Enough. I can do it myself" The seemingly dead figure's eyes opened, revealing a murderous glare, and sat up.

"Well now, up already?" the smaller ninja teased playfully.

"Haku, you have all the finess of a butcher." Zabuza sat up and ripped the needles out of his neck.

"Be careful Zabunza-sama! If you pull those out any which way, you really will kill yourself" Haku warned.

"Shut up and take that stupid mask off" Zabuza commanded.

"Gomen nasai, old habits die hard and this mask was so useful for my monkey pantomime routine." the young hunternin pulled off the mask, revealing a pretty face with alabaster skin and black eyes that seemed to embody winter nights.

"Haku, you're so innocent and clueless. I think thats why I keep you around" Zabuza said.

"Without us even knowing, the mist has lifted" Haku said, gazing out onto the ocean below.

Zabuza raised his would-be eyebrows "Since when did you became a poet? I thought you were a walking talking snow cone distributor with a mask"

Haku smiled "I'll always be your weapon Zabuza-sama"

"Good, Haku let's get out of here. All this witty banter is making me sick" Zabunza commanded and disappeared with a small burst of water.

Haku smiled once again, glad to have a reason for living "Hai Zabuza-sama"

--Back at Tazuna's House--

At Old Man Tazuna's house, night had fallen and all was peacful. The moon was full and the wind blew silently. It was a beautiful night. On this night, a certain bunhaired kunoichi was sleeping soundly, dreaming of nothing at all, but it is often at these times divine inspiration bestows itself upon the unprepared.

" Oh Shit! " Tenten sat up, everything clear to her. The weapons mistress bolted out of the covers of her warm futon and ran as fast as she could to the room Naruto was sleeping in, her hair down in only an oversized big pale pink shirt and panties, of course.

"Naruto, wake up. I have something to tell you!" Tenten shouted at the blond haired dead last, shaking him by the shoulders.

"Wha-uh, no TenTen-chan I couldn't possibly eat any more ramen. Ohh you don't have to feed me just because I'm hokage, I can eat for my-" Naruto half muttered, still asleep.

Realization finally struck upon Tenten! He was dreaming about her, or ramen? She couldn't tell which, either way, Tenten's eyes got wide and her cheeks turned read. "Na-ru-to..." she said, under her breath, hastilly she cleared her throat, and said in a high pitched girly voice.

"Hokage-sama, I've got all you can eat ramen for you. Come here so I can feed it to you..." Tenten called, in a sing song voice.

The orange ninja leaped to his feet instantly "Where? All You Can Eat Ramen, where is it."

Unfortunatly, or fortunatly, however you look at it. Naruto jumped to his feet still tangled in his blanket and tripped bringing Tenten down underneath him.

The stunned kunoichi lay there, breathing. Everything had happened so fast, Naruto had been sleeping, then jumping, and then everything went white. When Tenten's head cleared she noticed an unfamilar weight on her body and something pressing against her chest. Looking down, a heavy blush appeared on face as she realized what had happened.

Naruto, also stunned from the impact moaned in pain into Tenten's chest. The clumsy bumpkin propped his body up using his arms and opened his eyes. Underneath him was a blushing Tenten, covering her chest with her arms, looking away. Entranced, he could only stare at his teammate.

"Well, are you going to get up already?" Tenten said, avoiding Naruto's gaze.

Naruto scrambled off her as fast as she could, embarressed as well. When the silence finally got too much, Naruto asked "W-What did you need Tenten-chan?"

"Huh?" was his only reply

"Well, you must have came in here for something, right?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, oh right! I figured something out. Zabunza probably isn't dead!" Tenten practically shouted.

"W-What! How can he be still alive, you're rushing too fast"

"It was on that day I was in the hospital, right? I was reading my favorite book on 'How to throw a kunai for dummies' and it listed other projectiles and the advantages disadvantages. One of the things listed about senbon needles was the mortality rates. If a senbon hits the right place it can be deadly, but if not then the rates can be really low. It some cases, it can even induce a deathlike trance. I knew that hunternin was suspicious the moment I saw that crappy white and red mask. " Tenten whispered, making sweeping hand jestures, that made it clear she didn't like the hunter nin.

"Really? I thought it was kinda cool. That girl looked kinda mysterious in the mask." Naruto said, his eyes turning into minature stars in admiration.

Tenten shook her head"Honestly Naruto you've got no ninja intuition at all. That ninja was obviously a boy, and I'm positive that he was rescuing Zabuza!"

"Really? Are you sure its not about that ninja messing with your perfect bullseye record?" Naruto asked, stiffling a yawn.

Tenten nearly pulled out her hair in frustration "Thats not it Naruto! I swear you're an idiot sometimes. I know he's still alive. Somewhere out there Zabuza is getting ready to attack again."

Naruto smiled that clueless smile "Hey you know Tenten-chan this is the first time I've seen you without your hair up in buns. You look kinda cute like that, I normally like girls with longer hair."

"Naruto, you're a dead man" Tenten jumped at Naruto. The two rolled around on the floor until Naruto finally landed on top, using his arms pinned Tenten.

Naruto gently forced Tenten back down by the shoulders "Ok, Tenten-chan I beleive you. Calm down, but if he really is alive what are we going to do about it?"

"We're going to get Kakashi-sensei to train us, he's probably wondering about Zabunza too. I know that crappy excuse for a sensei has some tricks up his sleeve, and since we're going to be in the land of the wave for awhile, this is the perfect time to get stronger." Tenten said, her eyes burning with passion.

"Ok then, can I go to sleep yet?" Naruto asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Sure," Tenten held up a finger in front of Naruto " but don't tell anyone. I don't want anyone getting worried if it turns out I'm wrong. Let's just wait and see. Make sure you tell me if you notice something odd k?"

Just as this all was happening a certain silver haired jonin walked in on the two genin, reading his book. As he passed by his eye slowly gravitated towards the two young ninja. He finally stopped walking and just watched the two, a blush forming under his mask.

As the two noticed Kakashi, they immediatly seperated, each embarresed immensly.

"K-Kakashi-sensei! W-We were uhh, just-" the two stuttered, trying to explain.

The older jonin waved his arm up and down at the two "Its ok, really, continue. This is even better than Icha-Icha Paradise. " a bigger blush forming underneath his mask. Suddenly, something happened that made the jonin stop dead in his tracks. A very very sharp kunai was protruding from the wall an inch or two from his manhood. The jonin sweatdropped.

"I'll just be going now." Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Hey Tenten, where did you pull that kunai from, you're only wearing a shirt." Naruto asked, cocking his head to one side.

At this Tenten's blush grew even more "N-Never mind that. Just get out"

"But Tenten-chan. Its my room!" Naruto pleaded.

"Out, that means you too Kakashi!" Tenten threw another kunai at the space where Kakashi was.

The blushing jonin unravled the genjutsu, "I'll really be going now" and walked out into the hallway.

After making sure that everyone was out Tenten collapsed on Naruto's futon, hugging the pillow that smelled faintly of ramen, a blush on her cheeks _I forgot I was only wearing this big shirt, I'm so embarresed I could almost...I could almost... pound Kakashi to the ground with my bare hands_

--In the forest--

"Today I'm going to teach you all about chakra and the proper use of such" Kakashi explained, hands stuffed in his pockets.

Naruto and Sakura's mouths stretched wide open in disbelief "You teach us something! Normally, you barely even make it to our training sessions!"

The older ninja shrugged nonchallantly "About that I-"

"Liar!" Naruto, Tenten, and Sakura yelled.

Kakashi sweatdropped "well well, I wasn't expecting this..."

_Stupid Kakashi-sensei never teaching us anything... _Naruto thought.

"Anyways, today we're going to learn how to climb trees without using your hands" Kakashi said, "now watch"

The elder jonin casually walked towards the tree and walked straight up it, parrellel to the ground.

"That is so cool. Teach me how to Kakashi-sensei" Naruto said, full of excitement.

"Basically you just concentrate your bodies mental and physical energies, chakra, into the soles of your feet. The point is to get a greater control over your chakra. If you can master this, then no jutsu should be beyond you, at least in theory" Kakashi explained.

"Well, good luck. The only real way to learn is by doing" The jonin threw four kunai at the feet of the genin, "mark your progress using these"

And with that the jonin poofed away in a cloud of smoke.

_What a crappy senseI_ Naruto thought.

"This is going to be a long day" Tenten sighed.

--Elsewhere in the land of the Wave--

"I'm suprised you had the guts to show your sorry face around here after being beaten by a bunch of kids." Gatou sneered, his samurai bodyguards fingering their swords.

_Are they going to attack? _Haku thought to herself, getting ready to defend her precious person.

Gatou moved to grab the helpless Zabuza only to have his arm broken by Haku. The samurai moved to draw their swords and attack only to find Haku holding both swords to their throats.

"You don't want to do that" Haku whispered calmly.

_She didn't even seem to move. This kids some sort of monster. _They thought.

"Th-There better not be any mistakes. I-If you fail again don't think you ca-can come back here" Gatou said, his voice cracking in fear and left hastilly.

"There was no need for that Haku" Zabuza said, revealing a hidden kunai he was about to stab Gatou with.

"I know Zabuza-sama, but if we rush we may not be able to retrieve the money you need and we may even attract their attention here. Please be patient." Haku said, smiling.

"I don't give a shit about them. I'll kill anyone who gets in my way, mark my words. In one week, Kakashi of the sharingan, you're next." Zabunza said menacingly.

Haku merely smiled "I need to gather more herbs Zabunza-sama please rest while I go gather them."

--

Meanwhile at Tazuna's house, Naruto and the others were busy working on their tree climbing skills. Sakura having almost no reserves whatsoever had managed to complete the training. She was assigned to protect Zabunza while he worked on the bridge, not that she'd be much help even if there was an attack. Tenten and Naruto were busy, still working as hard as they could running up trees. Sasuke on the other hand was being trained personally by Kakashi. Four days had passed and Naruto had spent the night outside training until he collapsed.

In the forest there was one being wide awake in the morning. It was a girl, around 15 or so, with long black hair , pale skin, a nice figure, and chesnut eyes. She was wearing a pink kimono with a swirl design on it and a black choker around her neck. She was picking herbs when she something among the grass.

In the middle of the clearing a was a young boy 14 years old with spikey blond hair. _Its him!_ Haku thought, slowly reaching her hand to Naruto's throat as if to choke him. Then she grabbed his shoulder and gently shook him awake.

"You'll catch your death of cold sleeping on the ground."

"Who are you?" Naruto asked.

"My name is Haku, are you some sort of ninja?" the girl asked.

"I am! My name is Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto said, blushing a bit when he saw how the light caught the mysterious girl's hair, illuminating her already beautiful features.

--scene break--

"You're really good at picking the right herbs Naruto-kun" Haku said.

Naruto put the last of the plants Haku had told him to find into the girl's basket. Wiping some sweat of his brow, he replied "Thanks, I do some gardening at home."

"Say what are you doing out here at the crack of dawn?" the girl asked nonchalant.

" My dream is to be Hokage, the best ninja where I come from so I'm out here training to get better" Naruto answered.

Haku giggled "But why? You look really strong already..."

"Nope, I got to be a lot better than this. I have to get stronger so that all the people who treated me like dirt will have to bow down, and...

at the moment I have to prove myself to someone very special to me..." Naruto explained.

"I see. Are you doing this for your satisfaction or for this person."

"whut?" Naruto asked, obviously confused.

"Do you have anyone special in your life?" Haku asked, stiffling a giggle with her hand.

"I don't get it." Naruto said, befuddled.

Haku thought about Zabunza who treated her like a daughter, and about her life before he had come. She was always running, always digging through trash cans. She was so happy when Zabunza made her into his weapon. Her smile disappeared.

"Whats wrong?" the blond ninja asked, worried.

She raised her head and looked at the boy eye to eye. She reached her hand and gently touched the blond ninja's cheek, a peircing look in her eyes. "When people are protecting someone or something truely precious to them, they can become truely strong"

Haku pulled her hand away, embarresed at touching someone she had just met like that.

Naruto thought about the story of Inari's father, about when Iruka protected him, and Tenten protected him both as a child and recently.

"Yup, I know what you mean." Naruto smiled. "But I'm the weakest of my Nakama(4). I'm always being saved by my friends..."

Haku stood up abruptly "You will become strong, I'm sure of it..."

She turned to leave "I know we'll meet again, Naruto-kun..."

The mysterious girl walked away into the distance. Just as she was leaving, a certain bunhaired kunoichi appeared in the clearing.

As they walked by each other they locked eyes. In that moment, they knew that they were eternal rivals, destined to clash over someone close to them(literally and figuratively). Their eyes narrowed, and their bodies tensed. Something akin to killing intent poured from their bodies as lightning crashed ominously in the background(not really).

"You!" Tenten practically spit, lightning flashed in the background again (not really).

"hmph" Haku ignored her, and kept walking cooly, as if nothing had happened . Snow fell around Tenten as Haku vanished from view.

"So cold." Tenten said shivering.

"Hey Tenten-chan what are you doing here?" Naruto asked, walking towards the bunhaired weapons mistress, oblivious to what had just happened.

"Oh, Naruto-kun, I figured I'd join you out here, since you've been working so hard." Tenten replied, winking.

"Ok, let's get climbing then. Dattebayo" Naruto said.

"No not that. I meant practicing for our new entrance. Any ninja worth his headband has to have a cool entrance." Tenten said, placing her hands on her hips.

"I see" Naruto said, _I don't get it _Naruto thought.

--

"Where is Naruto no baka and that other girl?" Sakura asked.

"He's out there pushing himself beyond his limits. And Tenten-san is probably doing the same" Kakashi said, his face unreadable (duh).

"Whow!" the two gasped.

Sitting atop the highest tree was Naruto. He stumbled backward off the tree and at last moment caught himself by sticking to the bottom of the tree branch.

"Naruto you baka!" Sakura yelled "I'm going to kill you for that!"

Naruto's face suddenly contorted. His feet unstuck themselves, and he fell plummeting towards the forest floor.

"If he falls from that height..." Kakashi said hopefully.

Just as Naruto was about to hit the floor, a flail snaked its way around Naruto's leg, catching him a foot from his eminant demise. On top of the tree Naruto fell from was Tenten pulling Naruto up by the leg, grinning.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. Sakura and Kakashi cursed inwardly.

"What a bunch of idiots" Sasuke said, leaning against a tree trunk.

"Well they are making good progress, I guess..." Kakashi remarked.

--

Finally a week had passed. Zabuza had almost fully recovered and Kakashi was fine. Tenten and Naruto had practically mastered tree climbing. The bridge was almost complete.

"It doesn't look like he'll be going anywhere. He's totally worn out. How useless... Tenten-san would you stay behind and watch Naruto for me? Tsunami we're off" Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke left for the bridge.

--

"Where is everyone?" Naruto asked sitting up, kiddy nightcap still on his head.

Tenten genlty forced the blond shinobi down again, "Hold on there Naruto-kun. Kakashi and the others have already gone ahead to the bridge. You're supposed to rest, and I'm here to take care of you. So lie down. "

"Ano, but Tenten-chan I-" Naruto started to say.

Tenten smiled grimly, "I know. I feel it too. Today's the day... Just be patient though. We'll be there soon, but first we have some bussiness to take care of..."

--

"The mist is rolling in..." Sakura said ominously.

"They're here!" Kakashi said, alarmed

"Been awhile Kakashi. I see you still have those brats tagging along with you." an ominous voice, obviously Zabunza's taunted.

"It looks like our masked friend is working with Zabuza, how quaint..." Kakashi said.

A large number of water clones appeared around the four. With a nod from Kakashi's head, Sasuke tore off destroying all the water clones with his speed, just as he was about to skid to a stop and pose, the poor Uchiha bastard slipped on the residue water sending him flying over the rail and into the water below.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura screamed.

_It'll be hard to take them both on by myself. Its times like these I wished I would stop being such an ass and train my students equally. Oh well... _Kakashi thought.

"It looks like your brats havn't matured at all. What a pity. eh, Haku?" Zabuza chided.

"Indeed Zabuza-sama" Haku responded from beneath her mask.

"But we're still on the offensive, now!" Zabuza roared.

Haku rushed forward, using her insane speed to quickly close the distance between her and Sakura. Just as she was about to make contact with Sakura's billboard brow, the masked ninja was knocked away, absorbing the impact with her shoulder she used her hand to vault her back into a standing position next to Zabuza again.

"Who was that?" Zabuza his tone betraying his aprehension.

"Lets get this right the first time" The voice, female, cleared her throat "To protect the world from devestation..."

"To unite all people's within our nation" Another voice, male this time, articulated eerily through the thick fog.

"This fog, its getting thicker, but its not me..." Zabuza remarked, eyes darting everywhere.

"To denounce the evils of truth and love" the female narrated.

"Behind us!" Haku said, everyone turned to face where she had pointed. They strained their eyes through the fog...

Then they saw, one bunhaired kunoichi and five orange ninjas fanning what appeared to be large blocks of dry ice towards the group of ninjas. Behind them was a miniture orchestra of Narutos, complete with a Naruto in a conductor's outfit, playing ominous background music.

"Shoot Naruto, they found us! Let's skip to the end," Tenten held out both her hands and posed one hand on her hip, her other one outstretched, making a gun with her fingers, at Zabuza, " Tenten!"

"Jam-uhh. What was it again?" Naruto asked, posing in front of Tenten, kneeling with his hands behind him,

Tenten brought her hand to her face and shook her head sadly, "Its Naruto, you're supposed to say NA-RU-TO!!"

"Whatever, lets just finish it up" Tenten continued.

"Naruto, thats right!" a third Naruto appeared this one only a foot high, with his hands posed like a cat in front of the two.

Kakashi, Sakura, and Tazuna sweatdropped.

"I've failed...I worked so hard on that too... I even made a huge red 'R' I'm sorry Gai-sensei, I failed you! Wahahaha" Tenten cried, anime tears flowing down her face.

"Its ok Tenten-chan, let it all out. There's nothing wrong with crying,(sniffil, cry)" Naruto said, holding Tenten's hands in his own, crying as well.

_I think Gai would be the only sensei in the world that would be disappointed at not finishing that motto..._ Kakashi thought to himself.

"I'm really sorry Zabuza. They're usually not like this, really" Kakashi apologized.

"Hahaha" Zabuza laughed, wiping tears from his eyes, "Its been a long time since I've had a laugh like that"

This time Kakashi, Sakura, Tazuna, Naruto, and Tenten sweatdropped.

"Well, back to the fight." Zabuza said, switching from laughing to dead serious, freaking out most of the people on the bridge.

"Right let's do this, you two, take out that kid, I'll handle Zabuza" Kakashi said, lifting his forhead protector.

"Like you did last time? Baka-sensei?" Tenten asked, clearly not convinced.

Kakashi sweatdropped even more, "Uhh, I promise I'll take care of it this time."

"Right..." Naruto commented, obviously sarcastic.

"Let's go!" Kakashi said, and charged Zabuza kunai in hand. The two jonin clashed, Kakashi being cut here and there by Zabunza and his headchopper cleaver.

"You should feel honored to go up against my Sharingan, no one has ever lived to go up against it a second time." Kakashi said.

Zabuza sneered, "Either way it won't matter. Even if you can defeat me you'll never kill Haku. That girl is my pride and the sharpest weapon in my arsenal. I've trained her mercilessly since she was a toddler and she's become a true killing machine! Her skills surpass even my own, vastly superior to those peices of trash following you around."

"Is there anything worse than listening to someone brag? Let's fight" Kakashi demanded and the two clashed once again.

"By all means, now **Ninpo: Kirigakure no Jutsu (Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Technique)!" **

The bridge was once again covered in a thick mist and the master of silent killing attacked skillfully by sound alone. Appearing before Tazuna, Zabuza swung his sword downwards, fully intent on cleaving both the old man and girl in two, only to be blocked by Kakashi's own body. The jonin received a shallow cut to his torso, splattering blood all over the eyebrowless jonin.

On the other side of the bridge, Haku engaged Naruto and Tenten as well, she dodged Tenten's projectiles, while parrying the somewhat clumsy taijutsu of Naruto. Blocking Naruto's punch and sending him flying, Haku's eyes widened.

Tenten, spying an opening launched a round of kage shuriken at the masked ninja. Haku blocked shuriken with one hand using senbon and went through a flurry of handseals with the other. Finally, she stomped her foot on the ground and said

"**Sensatsu Suishou(Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death)"**

"One handed!" Tenten gasped as a thousand senbon made out of water rocketed towards Tenten, effectivly deflecting all of the shuriken, while flying towards the bunhaired girl.

Naruto moved in, arms outstretched and took the hit for Tenten, the needles making his body into a pincushion. He grunted from the pain and collapsed to his knees as the needles dissolved back into ordinary water. Tenten moved in front of Naruto, concern clear in her eyes.

"Naruto-kun don't try to move, rest here for awhile. Here I go", Tenten pulled out from her weapons pouch her summoning scrolls. She pullws from the scroll kunai and took out a flail with a grapling hook end.

"I'll take you on with this." Tenten said, swinging her flail in a circle around her.

"Impossible, no one can match my speed." Haku said, fully confident in her abilities.

Haku straifed left and right evading Tenten's long range. The two ran down the stretch of the bridge, attacking and dodging, neither landing much of a hit, Tenten could only keep up by pumping chakra into her legs to speed them up.

"No matter how fast your reaction time is, you're less aware of your surroundings while moving, especially at that speed!" Tenten swung from behind Haku, the flail coming dangerously close to Haku, however she evaded to the left.

"Now!" Tenten continued with her swing until the grappling end struck deep within a wall of stacked wooden crates left over from the construction. With a yell, the bunhaired kunoichi ripped the box out creating a veritable avalanche of crates heading straight for Haku, who was running straight at it.

Seeing it was too late to evade, Haku jumped, flying through the air over the boxes. She was confident she had dodged the other girl's attack until she felt something snake around her leg.

_The flail! _Haku thought.

Tenten, with all her might, brought Haku flying down in the oppisite direction, landing with a sick crunch on the unforgiving concrete, creating a diagonal crack in Haku's white mask from the top of the left eye to the right end of the red swirl near the bottom.

"Thats for Naruto" Tenten said and turned around heading for Naruto.

Suddenly, Tenten felt the air chill. Numerous mirrors of ice appeared around her, each reflecting a mask Tenten knew all too well.

**"Makyou Hyoushou(Demon Ice Crystal Mirrors)!" **Haku said, her voice betraying no emotion as she picked herself up from the floor, clutching her arm.

--

From not too far away the jonin temporarily ceased their battle to watch as Haku slid into the ice mirrors.

"Our children can play together as my girl kills yours..." Zabuza commented.

With a reckless charge Kakashi attacked yet again. The clashing of their blades obscured by the mist once more...

**--**

"What's she planning to do with these mirrors?" Tenten thought, eyes darting.

"I'll show you real speed!" Haku took off, a blur, landing more than a hundred hits within the time it took Tenten to blink.

Tenten was avoiding being skewered alive by inches. Using her quick reflexes, natural agility, and arsenal of weapons including a large steel shield Tenten was able to avoid the senbon hitting her vitals.

Gritting her teeth she prepared for the next onlsaught of needles.

--

Outside the mirrors Zabuza and Kakashi battled on, Zabuza landing several hits on Kakashi with Kakashi unable to use his eye due to the mist's effects. The silver haired jonin was slowly losing his fight. Naturally Tazuna and Sakura could do nothing to help and Sasuke had washed ashore still unconcious. All in all things were looking grim.

--

"My own art takes up an enormous amount of chakra, so you'll have to forgive me wrapping this up." Haku said, her image diststorting in the mirrors.

The masked kunoichi warped at high speed towards Tenten, prepared to kill her, when she was intercepted by a chakra enforced punch, stronger than anything she had felt before.

"Tenten, I'll kill the bastard who did this to you..."

--

Nakama-(4)- close friends, comrades, teammates.

**Ninpo: Kirigakure no Jutsu (Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Technique)!"-**water jutsu, the user gathers moisture in the air and creates a heavy fog.

**Sensatsu Suishou – Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death** – B rank / offensive Bloodline technique – A ninjutsu technique, unique to Haku's bloodline, that takes nearby water and shapes it into numerous chakra-infused needles. These needles then rain down on the target all at once, often from multiple directions. Haku can use this technique with one-handed seals, which seems to be a trait specific to her bloodline (or Haku herself).

**Makyou Hyoushou – Demon Ice Crystal Mirrors **– Offensive Bloodline technique – Another technique unique to Haku's bloodline, the Makyou Hyoushou allows the user to form large, flat ice mirrors out of water in a complete dome around the target. Haku is able to meld with the mirrors and utilize the reflections to confuse the enemy. She can travel between the ice mirrors with near instantaneous speed, enabling her to attack an enemy from seemingly all directions. It's a traveling technique that utilizes the mirror reflections. Her great speed makes it seem to her as if her enemy's movement is extremely slow (it seems to affect her perception of time). It is an intensely draining technique to maintain.

--

I hope you guys liked this chapter. I tried to make it exciting. Also, if you could guess all the shows that the catchphrases above the authors notes congradulations, (1) was Wilhelmina from Shakugan no Shana, (2) was Robin from Batman, (3) was obviously Kenshin from Ruroni Kenshin. Naruto's was from Sailor Moon. If you could guess that, man you watch a lot of tv, good for you, or not... i guess it depends on how you look at it.

Thanks everyone who reviewed last chapter. I really appreciate it. I'm slowly getting more reviewers. I'm asking you guys to review my fic if its not too much trouble. I can't force you guys, and I'm not asking for a novel, but even a short review gets me writing faster. Do what you can.

I'm sorry I couldn't finish the wave arc in one chapter like I said I would, but this chapter's already almost twice my usual chapters, and I thought I might need to break it up for your convienance and mine. Sorry, if anyone's still disappointed at my wave arc, but I can't help it. I'll have the next chapter up by next week and then we'll start on the chunin examination and other good stuff.

Read, Review, etc. I'm always looking for good suggestions of bankai, shikai, and sword designs.

Ja Mata


	5. At the Wave's End

\"And this kids" a female voice said, "Is our Rokudaime Hokage's natural state of mind" pointing to an exhibit in the hokage museum of blank white sheets of paper, called art.

"I don't get it sensei" one of the academy students whined.

"About five years ago, the Yamanaka clan attempted to discern the inner workings of his mind and they recorded it here in the hokage museum, on these white sheets of paper." The voice said, one might even call it musical.

"Basically, its blank" an older Tenten, probably in her mid twenties continued. She was wearing a hanfu, basically a brown chinese style battle outfit with cream colored cuffs and border. Time had been only good for the weapons mistress, and she had grown up a lot, but not suprisingly her hair was still in buns.

"Is that why you married him sensei?" another, this one a girl, asked.

"No, uh- that's not it-I" Tenten responded, caught offguard by the question.

"Then is it because he's strong?"

"No that's not it, Uchiha Sasuke was strong, but he ended up a traitor. I would never marry him" Tenten responded matterafactly.

"Is it because he's orange?" a boy with blond hair asked.

"You should know, he's your dad!" Tenten remarked obviously annoyed at her son.

"So why then?" "Yah we want to know" "Please tell us!"

Tenten backed away from the approaching academy students.

"Yes yes, we want to know too" a bunch of shinobi burst in through the windows, most of them guys, asked.

"Um, guys we're already late to be at our posts this morning." One pointed out.

"I have nothing to say about our lord Hokage and that's that." Tenten said, putting her foot down "Any other questions?"

"You're birthdate and star sign"

"August 7th, Leo"

"Where do you live?"

"With the hokage of course." Tenten replied.

"Why do you wear those strange clothes?" another asked.

"In honor of my parents" Tenten responded.

"Hobbies and Specialties?"

"Training with Naruto-kun, and reading books, taking long quite baths. As for specialties you'll have to fight me to find out" Tenten giving the V for victory sign.

"What type of guys do you go for?"

"I'm already married, God damn, give it up!" Tenten yelled.

"Do you want to fight?"

"I'm in the middle of a lesson!" Tenten snapped back.

"Please swear"

"You porky bastard!" Tenten said, "Hey wait that last one wasn't a question, who said that! You! If you weren't my son I'd... Come here so I can spank you, you little troublemaker" Tenten yelled, chasing after the little spikey blond haired kid down the streets of Konoha. The little kid ran as fast as he could ducking and weaving through the throngs of people, waving to people as he passed by.

Everyone in the museum exhibit sweatdropped.

**I do not own Naruto or the franchise and I receive no money.**

--

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone whos read my story. I hope everyone finds this chapeter just as enjoyable as the last. Just so you know, I'm making Naruto 14, Tenten 15, and Haku 16, not that it really matters, but it might confuse some people later on so, yah.

Summary:Last chapter, Haku met with Naruto and the two talked about precious people. Naruto and Tenten mastered tree climbing within a week's time. After the end of that week, the showdown at the bridge began. Kakashi fought Zabuza and Haku faced off against Naruto and Tenten. In their fight, Naruto took water senbon for Tenten and was rendered incapacitated. Haku fought with Tenten with the latter gaining the upper hand until Haku unleashed her bloodline limit. Just as the masked mist ninja was about to finish off Tenten, she is intercepted knocked back by an incredible force.

And now onto the next exciting chapter of Descending Heaven!

--

**"Kit you're making me look bad. I'm sorry, but if you want to save her and if I'm going to save my dignity, then I'm going to have to butt in." **A deep feral howl echoed throughout the sewer of Naruto's mind. Then bloodred charka seeped through the gigantic wooden doors into the sewer of Naruto's mind.

Naruto, previously knocked out by Haku's water needles, glowed red. The senbon needles were burnt away by the acidic chakra and the holes in Naruto's body closed up, failing to leave even a scar. The blond shinobi's hair became slightly spikier and his whisker marks became more prominent. His hands became clawlike and his nails grew long. The most startling change was of course, Naruto's eyes. The once cerulian blue eyes had become blood red and feral like an animals.

With a sickening crunch of bones being repaired, Naruto's body stood up, and in an instant vanished, heading for Haku's ice mirrors.

--

Inside, Tenten had received more punishment than she'd ever taken in all of Lee and Gai's training session combined. Her chakra was exhausted, her legs felt like jelly, and her arms felt like lead. Just as she closed her eyes and embraced her death, she whispered "Naruto-kun..."

Haku streaked in from her mirror, moving so fast Tenten might as well have been standing still. She headed for Tenten, fully ready to embrace the shinobi philosiphy and turn her heart to ice to sever the soul from the young girl's body. The masked nukenin was about to make contact when a punch far stronger than any she had ever encountered knocked her back.

**"Tenten, who did this to you?" **Naruto half said half howled, red chakra pouring out of him **I'll kill them**.

Haku froze(no pun intended). She was immobilized by the massive amount of killing intent literally pouring out of the genin in front of her. Unable to move, the ice kunoichi watched as Naruto grabbed the unconcious body of the weapon's mistress, bridal style.

Determined to halt the raging jinchiruki, Haku threw a handful of senbon at the blond ninja, who looked over his shoulder at the masked kunoichi. Suddenly, he seemed to growl and the senbon clattered to the floor uselessly.

Naruto carried the bunhaired kunochi out of the mirrors, melting one with the pure pressure of his chakra, making a whole big enough for the two to fit through. The blond ninja carried Tenten to Sakura and Tazuna, carefully setting her down before the two onlookers.

"You remember that academy medical training, right Sakura?" Naruto asked in a strange guteral voice, not his own "Look after Tenten for me then, alright Sakura?"

The pink haired kunoichi looked on in absolute shock, numb with bewhilderment. This was not the Naruto she knew, the dork that had always been deadlast at the academy. She wasn't sure she knew who this Naruto was at all.

"Sakura?" Tazuna said, shaking the pink haired ninja out of her stupor.

"Right." Sakura responded, surveying the girl in front of him for the first time. Remembering the basic medical attention all genin were taught in the academy, Sakura first removed the senbon before applying antiseptic to the wounds and dressing the cuts with torn scraps from her red dress. Finally, she tore of another piece of her red dress, dipping it into the bridge and placing it one Tenten's forehead. Then taking back out a kunai, the pink haired kunoichi resigned herself to waiting.

Inside the ice mirrors.

_This... this person... couldn't be, not Naruto-san. He was so sweet, so pure, so incredibly naive. This creature in front of her couldn't be the cute little ray of sunshine she had dreampt of every night since they had last met._

Preoccupied with her thoughts, she didn't notice the jinchiruki disappear from next to the girl and appear in front of her abruptly. With unparrelled speed and strength, Naruto grabbed her by the collar and proceeded to bash the girl with his fist, only to pull her back up and punch her again. Finally the monster punched her dead in the mask straight through one of her ice mirrors onto the unforgiving concrete below. Cut and bruised in a dozen places, Haku struggled to stand. When she had finally raised her chocalate brown eyes enough to meet Naruto's feral red ones, what she saw there chilled her to the bone.

--

On the other side of the bridge, Zabuza and Kakashi had finally noticed the evil chakra.

"Zabuza, we're both busy people. If we don't hurry none of us will survive. So let's finish this with one technique ok?"

"Hmm that sounds interesting. Let's go for it, after all what could you possibly do in this situation?" Zabuza answered.

--

_My mask... Zabuza-sama, I've failed you. Even if he was not this horrifically strong, there's no way I would be able to kill this boy. _The rest of Haku's mask fell from her face, revealing her feminine features, her skin was pale and her eyes were empty, stareing off somewhere into the distance.

Just as Naruto was about to make contact with her delicate chin, the madness in his eyes vanished. He stopped his fist inches from her face.

"You're that cute girl from that time in the woods..." Naruto whispered.

"Why did you stop? I killed you're precious person, did I not?" Haku asked.

"Kuso" Naruto said, remembering Tenten's still, pincushioned form, punched Haku halfheartedly, barely knocking her down.

"Where did your strength go?" Haku asked, emotionless "Don't make the mistake of letting me live..."

"Nani!" Naruto asked, bewhildered.

"Some people make the mistake of letting their opponents live, thinking it is kindness... Do you know the pain of living without a dream?"

" I-" Naruto started to say.

"Zabuza-sama has no need for a weak shinobi" Haku smiled grimly, "You stole my reason for existing"

Naruto thought of what Haku had said earlier, about precious people.

"Why, why do you fight for that guy? Is he the only precious person in your life?" Naruto asked, totally confused.

"I used to have precious people, long ago. My parents..." Haku whispered "I did something I shouldn't have, even though they warned me, and as a result they died..."

"I killed them, I killed them all..." she finished, her eyes blank, empty.

As Haku told Naruto about her parents, about the tragedy befalling her and the land of the mist the orange ninja couldn't help but feel the sense of kinship growing between the strange girl and himself. It was as if their lives had been parrellel lines, only crossing now. He couldn't beleive that the world could be so cruel to someone so young but a part in the back of his mind understood only too well the pain of being alone she felt.

"that was when I felt the most painful thing in the world, the pain of not being needed by anyone, of not being cared for, of not being loved..." Haku's empty eyes frightened Naruto, the blond ninja knew that those brown eyes would haunt his dreams.

_She's the exact same as me. Until I met Tenten-chan and Iruka-sensei, I was the same way. _Naruto shivered cold chills running down his neck. He was fourteen, a year younger than Tenten, but as hard as he tried, he could only remember as far back as the day he first met Tenten, the day that life became worth living. As far as he was concerned, the time before he met her, he was not really alive.

"Zabuza-sama knew I had a bloodline limit. He knew of my terrible heritage, but he didn't care. He took me and raised me as his daughter. He saw the pain in my eyes, the same pain he has in his eyes when he thinks no one's looking, the pain I see in yours."

Naruto was shocked, suprised that someone could see through his almost impenetrable mask. The truth was, when he wasn't with Tenten or his precious people, when he was alone, the pain sometimes resurfaced, all of the negative emotion directed at him by the villagers, all the chilling looks, all the graffiti and trash around his apartment, all the hate became one giant ball of pain in his chest.. Strange as it was, the little talks between Kyuubi and him during those moments were the only things keeping him sane in those dark moments and he could plainly see that in some ways Haku was just the same.

"Naruto-kun, please kill me." Haku spoke softly as she gazed at the ground, unable to meet Naruto's eyes.

--

Across the bridge, Kakashi had summoned his ninja dogs, using their sense of smell and latched them to Zabuza. He had broken one of the mist nukenin's arms and was making seals for his signiture technique, the chidori...

--

"I knew the day I met you in the forest that you went through the same pain I did. I knew you would understand better than anyone..." Haku whispered.

"This can't be right! This can't be the only way. Argh, I'm so confused, what am I going to do. " Naruto said, a big ball of black despair welling in his stomach.

Naruto couldn't do it, Haku wasn't one of those faceless evil shinobi he had always dreamed of defeating, she had a story, she had emotions, she was precious to him.

"Is this really the only way?"

"Hai, I'm sorry, Naruto-san. If we had met in a different place at a different time we could have been friends" Haku said, and _perhaps even more _she thought to herself_. _

"Why? Is this what it means to be strong, is this what it means to be a shinobi!" Naruto said, tears welling in his eyes.

_Become strong, fufill your dreams. I'm sorry I have to sully your pure heart with my death, Naruto-kun..._ Haku thought, prepared for death.

When Naruto's eyes snapped open, they were filled with deadly determination. His hand dropped to his right thigh and drew a kunai. He was scarcely aware of that first step towards Haku, but he thought that he could feel every little detail of the cold, damp handle of the kunai as he drew it from his leg holster. He was moving, perhaps as fast as he had ever moved before. Chakra pumped through his legs, accelerating his movement. For a brief, whimsical second, his mind flashed back to the tree climbing training. He had never considered that he would be using those hard-earned skills to kill someone, especially so soon. It was all about jutsu and dreams, or at least it had been. His newfound knowledge, that he had been so eager to learn, now left a bitter taste in his mouth.

_Kyuubi, is this what it means to be strong? _Naruto asked.

**Its a big part of it kit, a big part. **

_I just don't know. I don't know. What should I do? _the confused Naruto asked.

**I don't know kit, only you do...**

Suddenly, Naruto flashbacked to something Iruka had said in one of the few lectures Naruto had stayed awake for.

"After you leave the academy, whatever you choose to make of your lives, whatever your beliefs, whatever your dreams and whatever your choices, its a shinobi's job to take responsibility for their actions, to take their lives in their own hands or die by another's, that is what we teach you here."

The distance between the two ninja decreased rapidly. Naruto's vision narrowed. The beat of his heart seemed impossibly loud in his ears, and his footsteps seemed to shake the whole bridge. He was screaming now, though his ears were deaf to the noise around him.

Haku smiled as Naruto ran towards her, ready to kill her, she thought _Goodbye Naruto-kun_

Then she sensed it.

"I'm sorry Naruto, I can't die yet." Haku easily dodged Naruto's kunai thrust and vanished into an ice mirror.

Naruto was stunned as Haku vanished so suddenly,

"Hey wait where'd you go?" Naruto yelled into the encircling mist "Haku-chan!"

--

"You abandoned your village, Zabuza. Something a shinobi should never do. You killed many innocent people to get what you want." Kakashi said, his words hanging in the air like venom.

"I don't give a damn. I fight for my own ideals and my own beliefs." spat the pinned nukenin.

"You're future is death!" and Kakashi rushed forward, chidori in hand, suddenly Kakashi's eyes widened, in front of him appeared Zabuza's protege, Haku.

Too late to stop, Kakashi thrust his hand forward, only to feel his hand sink into something else.

--Across the Bridge a few seconds ago--

"Huh, where did she go?" Naruto asked.

**Kit!** The kyuubi mentally screamed.

_Kyuubi lend me your chakra. She's going to stop Kakashi-sensei and I'm going to get there first!_

--

Blood splattered everywhere. From over the side, Sakura and Tazuna gasped and looked away, horrified. In front of Zabuza was Haku, but in front of Haku was Naruto, arms outstretched, facing the black haired kunoichi, and Kakashi...

The jonin had stabbed Naruto through his unprotected back all the way to the other side of his stomach. Kakashi's eyes widened, but he did not stop, thrusting his arm deeper into Naruto, he attempted to skewer Haku. She would have been charred if Naruto, whether conciously or by instinct alone, latched onto Kakashi's arm with a death grip, blood trickling from his mouth as he smiled grimly. Finally, Kakashi was forced to pull his hand out, and Naruto's body, lacking the support, buckled and fell.

"No" Haku whispered, then shrieked hysterically "No!"

"Haku" Zabuza started to ask, his black eyes darting between the bleeding blonde genin and Hak "What-"

"Naruto-kun, no" Haku wrapped her arms around Naruto, catching him from falling. Carefully, the black haired kunoichi lay Naruto on the ground, his head in her arms.

"So... he's the one." Zabuza whispered mostly to himself as he watched as the obviously enamored Haku held the heavily wounded fox container in her arms. Silently he watched Haku struggled to heal the gaping hole the chidori had left in Naruto's chest to no avail. Try as she might, a wound of this seriousness couldn't be patched up with Haku's limited medical ninjutsu.

"Naruto, no you can't be dead." Haku, brought Naruto's head to her chest, clutching her new found precious person for dear life.

"So this is the life of a shinobi, that is way too super harsh..." Tazuna remarked, shaking his head sadly.

"Naruto! No!" Sakura screamed from over where the two bystanders where watching.

Hearing the noise, Tenten opened her eyes, only semiconcious "Naruto?"

"Your alive, thank goodness." said the pink haired kunoichi, tearing at the eyes.

Kakashi walked wordlessly past the crying raven haired kunoichi towards Zabuza, a kunai held menacingly in his hand.

"You! How dare you!" Zabuza ran past the two ninja on the ground and using his one good arm, swung his huge sword like a feather, attempting to slash Kakashi in half.

The slash never made it, Kakashi intercepted Zabuza's arm and cut his tendon with a kunai, causing his sword to slip out of the lifeless fingers.

Zabuza's eyes widened at the pain, but managed to stand up wearily.

"Zabuza" From across the bridge, gatou appeared, surrounded by at least 50 men, armed to the teeth with weapons, "I'm going to kill all of you here. After all, its much cheaper to pay these bandits than a ninja like you."

Gatou laughed in a mad scientist kinda way "When I heard the big demon of the mist was defeated by some kids, I almost laughed my ass off. You make me sick" Gatou spat on the ground.

_There are too many, we can't take them all! _Kakashi thought.

"It looks like you're just a baby demon after all..." Gatou sneered.

"Kakashi, I no longer have any reason to fight you." Zabuza turned to his student, "Haku all of my belongings and savings are yours, I don't need them anymore. But-"

"What is is Zabuza-sama" she asked, still cradling Naruto.

"Haku, whatever happens today, survive. Nomatter what it takes, I just wanted you to be happy, a good kid like you deserves it. Even if I die here, today, just knowing that your happy is good enough."

"I understand Zabuza-sama" Haku nodded, tears freely falling, as she cradeled Naruto's head in her arms.

Then he turned to Naruto "Kid sacrificing yourself for Haku, a person you didn't even know, even worse sacrificing yourself for an enemy, that kind of stupidity will get you killed in this world. Compassion like that only makes us weak... You know, it pained Haku a lot to fight you, it broke her heart. She always was too kind. Even if shinobi are supposed to be tools, we aren't emotionless, we're all too human in the end.

Tears cascaded down Zabuza's face, disappearing into the bandages wrapped around the lower half of his face. Wiping the tears away, in a loud commanding voice Zabuza shouted "Listen to me brat! Don't you die while I'm talking to you! The day after the two of you met, I knew it was over. She seemed lighter, happier, I knew right then this would be my last battle. So I'm giving you my sword, the kubikiri, not because I like you, to protect Haku. So you better make it through this, the rest of the world isn't as kind as me... "

Despite his arm being broken, the masked nukenin picked up his head chopper cleaver and planted in the ground next Haku and Naruto,"Haku, give me a kunai." Zabuza said.

Haku blinked once. She didn't carry any kunai, usually relying on senbon to serve as both kunai and shuriken. Her eyes wandered along the ground, hoping to spot one lying amidst the rubble, until she spotted one. With a small jolt, the icy kunoichi realized it was the one Naruto had clutched in his now bloodied hand, the very kunai, he had almost killed Haku with not a minute ago. Easing the kunai out of the blond ninja's hand, she gave it to Zabuza, who caught it in his mouth.

Zabuza, kunai in mouth, charged at Gatou, "We'll see whose a real demon! In hell!"

The crappy little bussiness man ran into the depths of his body guards and cowered. Zabuza roared, kunai in his mouth, his chakra manifesting itself as a huge red demon. The mist nukenin ran through the crowd, not caring enough to dodge any of the bandits attacks, with one slash from the kunai in his mouth, Gatou's head flew from its body, and both their bodies slumped to the ground, lifeless.

--

Kuso- means damn or crap

Nani- means what?

--

I tried to finish this as fast as I could because some people seemed to be getting antsy about the wave arc taking so long. Next up is the chunin exam. If you noticed I made Zabuza seem a little more kind, mostly because after I knocked Naruto out by Kakashi's chidori, taking the hit for Haku, I lacked the moral compass that Naruto provided in the origional. So, I had to make him seem a little more good of his own accord, rather than Naruto persuading him, go figure. I really struggled with this chapter, trying to make a believable scene where Zabuza gives Naruto his sword, I've just got two words for you. Not easy.

Thanks for everyone's reviews, though I didn't get quite as many as I wanted before I posted this chapter. In the end it doesn't really matter, I guess, I'm not going to be one of those authors that demands to have 40 or so reviews before he or she updates again. That being said, I do love reviews, they increase my chapter output tenfold at least.

Also, feel free to pm, email me, etc. if you don't understand anything in my chapters, sometimes I go between japanese and english just because its how it would happen if I were watching it or reading it, and I take it for granted that everyone knows what it means, like saying 'Hai' or 'Nani!' simple japanese stuff. I sometimes forget that not everyone watches as much anime as me. Of course I will try my best to refrain from

Anyways, I hope to have the next chapter out within a week or so. I hope everyone looks forward to it.

Ja Mata.


	6. Reflections in Water

"Hey Tenten-chan?"

"What is it Naruto-kun?" she asked.

"Why do we get stuck on a stupid mission retrieving stupid documents from the stupid land of tea? We get all the boring missions!" Naruto complained

"Well, Hokage-sama breaks up all the missions by level of skill. I guess he just doesn't think we've developed enough for us to take on a cooler mission" Tenten explained.

"Kuso!, this sucks!" Naruto whined "She knows I'll only take on missions S-rank and higher!"

"Uhh Naruto-kun, there's nothing higher than an S-rank" Tenten pointed out.

"Oh, I see" Naruto said, sinking to the floor in sadness.

"It'll turn out alright Naruto-kun, don't worry. The more missions we do, the harder missions we'll be able to take. " Tenten said, patting Naruto on the back.

She pulled up a map of the shinobi countries "Ok, so first we go here, then here and from there we'll catch a ferry..." Tenten explained, pointing to various spots on the map.

"Got it! Yosh lets go"Naruto jumped up and down.

"I'm all packed too, let's head out Naruto-kun. "Tenten said, setting her pack on her shoulders as they walked outside the gates.

"Yokai1(Roger)" Naruto practically screamed, taking off at full speed.

Land of Tea here we come!" The two headed out the gates and vanished into the sunset.

--five minutes later--

"Hey Tenten-chan, do you think this is poisonous?"

"Naruto wait!"

--

**Author's Note**:Thanks to everyone who reviewed, though I seem to be getting less and less. Oh well.

**Summary:**In the last exciting chapter of descending heaven, Naruto fought and beat Haku using Kyuubi's chakra. Zabuza was about to be killed when Haku stepped in to take the blow, but Naruto took the hit, earning him a hole through his lung. Then Gatou appeared with his thugs. He was then killed by a demonic Zabuza.

And now onto the next exciting chapter of Descending Heaven

--

"Naruto-kun!" Haku screamed and sat up, ignoring the throbbing pain in ribs and arm

"Easy there dear, you're still recovering. You've quite a few broken ribs and you're arm is fractured as well. I'm afraid you won't be fighting for awhile. Are you thirsty?" Tsunami said, fetching the younger girl a glass of water.

"Yes please" Haku responded politely, her bloodline required her to drink a little more water than an average person due to water she expended through her jutsu, and though she didn't want to admit it, her throat burned awfully.

"Thank you" she said gulping down the entire glass. As Haku drank , her uninjured hand unconciously came to her throat, feeling the cold liquid trickle down the back of her throat. Sensing something absent she exclaimed.

"My bandages and my choker! Where are they?" Haku questioned frantically upon realizing the said items were missing. Her bandages kept her breasts from showing and the choker hid her lack of adam's apple. They were a vital part of her disguise, especially in a land where any helpless female could be subject to a man's carnal desires. Haku wasn't helpless anymore, in fact she could easily kill most men that would try to get their way with her, but a small dark part of her mind reminded her that she was a virgin kunoichi and wanted to do everything she could to keep it that way.

"I had to take them off of you to treat your wounds. Don't worry I cleaned off the blood and washed them." Tsunami smiled in a mothering way that reassured the missing ninja.

"I see and the blade hidden in my sleeves..."

"Over there on the countertop, do you want it?" Tsunami asked.

Haku nodded silently. Carefully, she examined the wakizashi, scrutinizing it for any sign of wear, tear or blood. As she had thought, not a single mark remained on it. With an uneasy carefulness, Haku slipped the blade into her kimono's long sleeve and the wakizashi disappeared from sight, lost amid the folds and creases of the kimono.

"So what will you do now, Haku-chan?" the older woman asked innocently after the younger woman had finished.

"I-I don't know. I havn't thought about it yet. First I need to visit Zabuza-sama's grave..." Haku responded, staring off into the distance, remembering the events that had transpired.

"Well, although we don't know you all that well, my father and I would welcome it if you decided to stay here. Of course, I'm sure you'd rather go back with Naruto-kun, but think it over." Tsunami smiled motheringly left, leaving the girl to her thoughts.

_How did she know about me and Naruto-kun? _Haku thought, mortified.

"Oh by the way, you talk in your sleep. I think you two would make the cutest couple" Tsunami added as she walked out the door.

Realizing what she must have muttered about Naruto and her, Haku blushed heavily, still without Zabuza, she didn't know what to do.

--

It had been nearly a week since Zabuza's death and Gatou's attack. Sasuke was found (much to Naruto's dismay) and was brought back to Tazuna's house. He hadn't talked to anyone since his 'epic' battle on the bridge. Naruto had confirmed it as a case of a major case of sore loser. Sakura was the same as usual as well, working on her looks and trying to take care of Sasuke rather than her shinobi skills.

Due to the power of the Kyuubi's chakra and some minor medical treatement, Naruto was soon up and about, playing with Inari and helping around the house, till Haku and Tenten got well.

It seemed, despite the incredible battle they had fought, everything regarding Team 7 had remained the same, Kakashi still favored Sasuke and the sun went round the earth.

The only thing that seemed to be different is the way Sakura treated him. Though she usually treated him bad, calling him and idiot and blaming him for things that couldn't have possibly been his fault, after the battle on the bridge, the girl had went as far as to go out of her way to avoid him. Naruto would say hi and the pink haired kunoichi looked at him with those eyes full of fear, as if he were a wild animal. She would stammer hi back and then quickly find some excuse to get away from the blond jinchiruki.

_Sakura's not an idiot, she saw me while I was using the chakra, she's probably figured out_ Naruto thought to himself, depressed.

**Its alright kit, you've already got a fine vixen, you don't need that pink haired ningen **the Kyuubi said, trying to cheer his container up, unsuccesfully.

"Naruto-kun, could you please run down to the market and get some groceries for me, we need some tofu and cabbage and some other things for tonight's dinner." asked Tsunami.

"Sure, I got it!" Naruto exclaimed jumping with the joy of being needed, his brooding gone once again behind his mask.

"Thanks Naruto-kun" Tsunami said, handing the blond ninja the list happily.

Even though Naruto had volunteered to go into the village and search for groceries, of course, luck would have it that Naruto was born without a sense of direction and constantly relied on Tenten to guide him. Needless to say wandering around by himself was a less than smart idea. He'd be walking one way, when he'd see some cool ninja gear, or a ramen shop, and he'd end up hopelessly lost.

"This place sure is crowded and I can't find half the junk on this list." Naruto complained, bumping into a man with a sign around his neck that said 'Will do anything for food.'

"At least with the bridge complete more businesses will be traveling here to the land of the wave, at least I think so..." Naruto thought out loud as he walked through the streets, the few groceries he had managed to find.

**"Relax kid. Its nice to have some free time every once in awhile. You shouldn't spend all your life training."**

"I know Kyuubi, but still..." Naruto said, thinking about the black haired kunoichi. Ever since she'd woken up days ago, she'd been locked up in Tsunami's room, not even removing herself from her self-impoed isolation for meals. Tsunami it seemed had been the only one to see the mysterious kunoichi, the older woman sensitive to Haku's fragile state of mind had allowed no visitors, despite Naruto constantly asking to talk to her.

"Where am I?" Naruto wondered aloud taking in for the first time his surroundings, "Paradise on Earth Massage Parlor? How did I end up here"

"Oh good to see you too, I'll be sure to come around again, bubye now!" a large man, wearing red and green as well as a forhead protector with the kanji for oil on it said, lecherously (I would have made this more descriptive, but I'm sure you guys know who I'm talking about by now)

The man turned, his mane of white hair, blowing in the sea breeze and walked past the confused genin, without giving him a second glance.

"Hey wait up old man! Do you know how I can get back to old man Tazuna's house?" Naruto asked chasing after him. He was just about to grab the man's yukata when-

"What do you think you're doing gaki? Don't you know who I am?" the man asked, removing off Naruto's hand. from his shirt.

Naruto could only shake his head, which made a vein pop in Jiraya's forehead.

"What are they teaching kids these days. I mean to not know me of all people. Well, I guess I'll just have to show you." Jiraya said, half to himself.

"What are you talking to yourself about! I'm right here, my name's Uzumaki Naru-" Naruto started to say.

"Lost among humanity. Flooded with anger, the sky cries tears of blood. I am the great hermit sage. The legandary sannin, the toad demon of the mysterious Myouboku Mountain, The Great Jirai-Yaaa-Ahhh! Urgh!" The old man proceeded to preform a ridiculous dance, consisting of some weird Kabuki like poses(the dance he does when he first meets Naruto) then fell face first onto the street as he tripped on his own feet.

**Watch carefully kit... They're something odd about that old man who smells of oil...**

"Are you sure you're not thinking of someone else, this guy looks like an idiot, and probably a perv."Naruto thought out loud, earning an annoyed look on the face of Jiraiya.

"well thanks for dropping by, goodbye now." Jiraiya said, the scent of alchohal thick on his breath. Suddenly, a rather large toad with red skin and blue markings appeared underneath him and outstretched its tounge.

"Gama!" Jiraya commanded.

The toad sent Naruto flying over the buildings, vanishing in the sky with a ping of light along with his hard found tofu.

"That sure took care of that pest, eh Gama?" Jiraiya asked the silent toad playfully. "Although I can't help thinking I forgot something, what was his name? Uzumaki-something. Oh well, watch out, ladies, cause Jiraiya's here!!"

--

Tenten had recovered from her psuedodeath experience shortly after Zabuza had been killed. Though she was knocked out at the time of death, she was spared no detail and had heard everything that had went on.

The bunhaired girl considered herself to be a very down to earth person and dealt with the eyebrowless shinobi's death quicker than the others, mostly because she had a whole year's worth of missions under her belt. Tenten had had to deal with this kinda stuff before as part of Team Gai and as a kunoichi, who aspired to be as great as the legendary sannin, Tsunade. Still, she couldn't help but notice the change in Naruto after the battle. The bunhaired kunoichi couldn't help but wonder what had made her normally energetic Nakama so serious.

Twice in the last four days, she had approached him only to find herself unable to get the words out of her mouth when she saw that distant look in his brilliant cerulean eyes. Killing, Tenten knew, changed people forever. Most people have a hard time coping with their own close encounters with death, or the death of someone close to them. Still, she had to find him, she was the only support he had.

Tenten buried her face in her pillow, releasing the breath she didn't know she was holding in. Getting out of her bed with a groan from her protesting body, the young weapon's mistress fixed her hair up in buns, grabbed her ninja equipment, and headed out to find Naruto.

--

Naruto screamed as he landed in the frigid sea the land of waves was known for, soaking him to the bone. The icy cold water struck his body like a million spikes. Coughing and spitting up water he made his way to the bank. Taking off his heavy jacket, Naruto realized wher he had landed. He was standing on a bridge. The setting sun reflecting on the sparkling clear blue water. It was so beautiful, the kind of thing you'd show to your girlfreind, that for a second he didn't even realize it.

He was on the bridge, the bridge where the his blood and the blood of his comrades painted the ground . The place where he had almost lost Tenten, Haku, and his own life. For what? For money and power and greed. For a shinobi's honor and whatever else it was that drove men to fight. Naruto thought about what Kakashi had said earlier after the battle.

"Ninjas are merely tools for our homeland to use as they see fit. Its as true for Konoha as it is anywhere else" He had said.

Naruto walked along the bridge till he found himself at Zabuza's grave, the headchopper cleaver marking his eternal resting place. The orange ninja's mind flashed back to the first time he met Haku, till Zabuza's death days after.

Naruto was so confused and sad, tears welled at his eyes, threatening to pour down his cheeks. He remembered the pure horror in Haku's brown eyes, he remembered the incredible malice in Kakashi's. He remembered Tenten's unconcious form, for a moment, he had thought she really was dead. Naruto brushed the tears from his eyes with his sleeve.

Suddenly behind him appeared Tenten in a puff of smoke. Enveloping the boy in a wordless hug, the two genin stood in silence in front of Zabuza's grave.

_Are we just tools for killing? Is that really the way it has to be, for me, for Tenten-chan, like it was for Haku?. I can't accept that. That can't be all there is to being a ninja, to being Hokage. What about protecting those precious to you? _

"How're you doing?" asked Tenten, releasing the blond genin.

"I'm alright" Naruto said smiling.

"No you're not!" Tenten exclaimed, pulling the sides of the blond ninja's smile "I cant tell when you do that fake smile idiot."

"Ouch," Naruto said, rubbing his cheeks where the weapons mistress had pulled them "I forgot you could see through it."

"Stop being so stubborn Naruto, we're nakama aren't we?"

"I know" countered Naruto, "but-"

"No buts" Tenten said, stamping her foot to increase the effect "You always smile, even when you feel sad and then you try to handle everything by yourself."

"Gomen, I just don't want you to worry over me." answered the blond jinchiruki.

"That's what I'm here for Naruto you big dork" Tenten said, hands on her hips "Don't just decide on your own, tell me. If you do then I can help, if its what you really want I'll support you."

"Arigato Tenten-chan, thanks to you, I've decided." Naruto said, placing his hands on the kunoichi's slender shoulders.

"Huh?" Tenten said, slightly blushing.

"I've decided," Naruto said "I'm going to create my own shinobi code, my own nindo. I'm going to become the best ninja in history, and protect all my precious people, Haku-chan, Iruka-sensei, you, everyone in my sight, Konoha, Suna, Kiri, jonin, nukenin, I don't care where they're from, cause in the end we're all the same on the inside. I'm going to make sure no own has to go through the pain we went through,"

"I understand Naruto and I'll be right at your side the entire way," responded Tenten "After all, you can't get rid of me that easily."

"I wouldn't have it any other way Tenten-chan" Naruto said softly back the bunhaired kunoichi, almost a whisper.

"Then its a promise" Naruto holding up his fist "And-"

"We never go back on our word" Tenten finished "Because thats our shinobi way."

"Thats right" said Naruto.

The two ninja stood there in front of Zabuza's grave in mutual silence for a moment, something about the way the setting sun hit the waves. Naruto's cerulean blue eyes met Tenten's chocalate brown, the two communicating without the need for words. Suddenly without even thinking, Tenten reached out, reaching for Naruto's hand with her own. Naruto's first reaction was to recoil, an instinct honed by the beatings he had received by the villagers, and despite the fact that he now was stronger than any normal villager, the blond ninja could still not control the sudden urge to pull away.

Tenten noticing her long time freinds distress clutched Naruto's hand all the harder, giving it a reassuring squeeze, "Its ok Naruto-kun.."

Naruto had never really noticed before how delicate Tenten's hands were. They were small and delicate and soft despite all of the many many hours of training both with her team and with Naruto. A small part in the back of his mind wondered if all kunoichi hands were this soft.

The two stood there for what seemed like an eternity, side by side, hand in hand, in comfortable silence.

"Come on Tenten-chan, lets go home I'd bet a bowl of ramen, the others are waiting for us."

"Yah, you're probably right" Tenten agreed.

"Still, I can't shake this feeling that I forgot something, probably important..." Naruto thought to himself as the two genin walked slowly back to old man Tazuna's house. The two didn't hold hands, but they walked side by side together close enough that he couldfeel the warmth coming of the budding kunoichi beside him.

As they came to the house, the two were suprised to find Tsunami standing outside waiting for them pleasently, her familiar smile on her face.

"Naruto-kun, where are my groceries?"

The blond ninja brought his hand up, hitting himself squarly on his face "Crap."

-The next day-

"Thanks to you, the bridge that will save us all has been completed, but to be honest" Tazuna said, laughing a bit, "It'll be pretty dull once you're gone"

"We've enjoyed your hospitality" Kakashi gave that one eyed smile of his.

"No problem, Tazuna my man, we'll come back and see you guys again some day!" Naruto said, a grin on his face.

"You better..." Inari said, starting to sniffle.

"Inari don't let it get you down, its ok to cry if you want too." Naruto said to the young kid.

"I'm not going to cry big brother, but you can if you want to" Inari said holding tears back.

"Me, no way, see ya" Naruto turned around and started walking.

"Oh, ok..." Inari said crying.

Just as Sakura was about to yell at the blond ninja for making Inari cry, she saw Naruto him crying tears also.

"Boneheads" she remarked.

"Oh, Kakashi-sensei, I forgot something I have to do before I leave, I'll be back in a minute, you guys go on ahead" Naruto walked a little bit ahead, then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Hey, were's Naruto off to?" Tenten asked her pink haired teammate, but inside she knew the answer.

"He's probably going to see that creepy hunternin girl." Sakura answered, shuddering.

"Hmm..." Tenten mused as she walked.

--With Naruto--

Naruto appeared in a clearing not far from where he had disappeared using the **Shunshin Jutsu(Body Flicker)**, something he'd finished learning here in the waves after the battle against Zabuza from out of a scroll, with some advice from the weapons mistress who knew it already. It was really just a short burst of speed with some smoke and leaves for effect. Together it sorta made it look like he could teleport, not all that useful, but the blond ninja liked it because it made him look more badass when appearing or leaving a clearing, something he definetly enjoyed doing.

Standing there, in front of Zabuza's grave, was Haku, praying for the deceased nukenin. The ninetails container silently walked up to the grave till he was standing right next to Haku. He bowed slightly, in respect for the nukenin that gave his life to save there's, before speaking.

"Haku-chan, how're you holding up, alright?"

"Hai..." Haku said, giving the best smile she could manage, her heart clearly not in it.

Naruto felt strangely guilty whenever he thought about the hunter ninja's distress, unable to shake the nagging feeling that Haku's pain was his fault. A small part of him, knew that there had been a lot of things out of his control during that battle, but reason and guilt didn't necessarily mingle in the same circles. As soon as he began to think about it, he would begin to imagine scenarios where he had been stronger, or faster, or smarter, where he could have prevented Haku's precious person's death.

"What are you going to do now, Haku-chan?"

"I don't know" Haku whispered so low Naruto could barely hear it, the pain in her voice evident, "Without Zabuza-sama, I'm not quite sure what to do"

When he saw she wasn't going to extrapolate, Naruto continued "Well, if you're not sure, you could come with us back to Konoha, I could talk to the Ji-san and get him to let you stay there."

"I don't know" Haku's silent response seemed to say "without Zabuza-sama, I'm not sure I've the will to live"

The silent girl thought back to Zabuza's last words right before he died

'Haku all of my belongings and savings are yours, live a good life. Make friends, fall in love.' he had said, nice words, but that didn't make it any easier for Haku to decide what to do next, or where to go.

"Live for me, Haku-chan"

Haku's froze, her mind unable to process what Naruto had said "Gomen, what did you say Naruto-san?"

"I don't want you to commit seppuku, Haku-chan. You're precious to me, and if you need something to live for, then I'll be your reason!" Naruto said not meeting her eyes "I need you..." and while it may not be neccesarily true in the strictest sense, Naruto had found another person with a past just as bad as his, how could he leave her now, after all she had experienced.

A tear welled up and froze as it made its way down her cheek. _Zabuza-sama, I think I've finally found someone the same as myself. I don't know what you would do in this situation, but I think, I might be able to find that happiness you wanted for me with Naruto-kun._

Naruto thought back to their short fight on the bridge, she had said that she wouldn't have a reason to live anymore. If so, then...

"Naruto-san, I-..." Haku looked away, her eyes meeting the ground.

Naruto suddenly burst into laughter, "I'm the one who should be sorry, saying something stupid like that, its just I-..."

The black haired kunoichi could feel the half-heartidness of his laughter, she could see the fake smile he now wore, he was hiding behind a mask the same as she was.

"Its just I thought you might come here to kill yourself. You've looked so empty since Zabuza died, and I just wanted to make sure..." Naruto said, his false cheer dissolving as fast as it had come, his words hanging in the air like a heavy fog, threatening to choke her..

Haku shook her head, tears falling from her eyes "No thats not it at all, thanks to you, Naruto-kun, I think I finally know what path to take."

"Oh? What path is that?" Naruto asked, suprised she had decided so quick, and clueless as ever.

"The one right beside you, to Konoha" Haku answered.

"I don't think I get it."

"Naruto-kun said he could ask the Hokage. If you will let me stay with you, then I accept" Haku said, choosing her words carefully "That is, if you will have me Naruto-kun..."

Naruto oblivious as ever replied without hesitation "Of course Haku-chan"

"Then..." Haku said, kneeling in front of Naruto, bending so low that her delicate nose nearly touched the ground, her raven black tresses veiling her face, preventing Naruto from seeing her expression " I, Mizukage Momoichi Haku,will follow you till the ends of the earth, my Naruto-sama."

"Follow me..." Naruto repeated "till the end..."

"My life is yours to do with what you want" Haku said "I am your tool to use as you see fit, master."

Naruto helped the young woman to her feet, forcing her to raise her head, earning a confused look from Haku "Haku you're not a tool. You are your own person with your own dreams"

Haku paused, thinking, before replying "My dream is to help you accomplish your dream Naruto-sama"

"Fine then, but you're a great kunoichi and one of the nicest girls I've ever met , just like Tenten-chan or even Ayame-neechan" Naruto said, " Iruka-sensei always told me to respect women, I can't call you my tool thats too- what would Iruka-sensei call it- demeaning."

"Regardless of titles, you are my master Naruto-sama and I am yours" Haku answered, her eyes revealing how passionate the young woman really was, which of course was lost upon the thickheaded Naruto.

"Then its settled from today on we're Nakama," Naruto said, seeing he couldn't change the ice mistresses mind, "and you're coming back with me to Konoha its going to be great when we get back, we're going out for Ichiraku's to celebrate! "

Haku smiled warmly at the young ninja, so radiant and full of life, "Of course, until the day I die, Naruto-sama, I am yours."

--Back in the Land of the Wave, Tsunami's House--

"That reminds me! We still havn't formally dedicated the bridge, and a bridge isn't a bridge until it has a name." Tazuna said, looking at their very own bridge with his daughter and grandson.

"What are we going to call it, Ji-san?" Inari asked.

"Inari, that boy touched your heart and the hearts of everyone in this village... Naruto built the bridge that gave us hope and courage, and gave us freedom..." Tazuna explained to his grandson.

"And the name will be? Come on Father, tell us already." Tsunami asked, half annoyed with her father, and half full of excitement.

"The name will be the **Naruto Dai Ohashi(Great Naruto Bridge)!**"

"Hee Hee..., its a nice name dad, are you sure about calling it that?" Tsunami asked, giggling.

"Heh... I'm quite sure, I'll start working on the inscription tommorow. I know, that giving it that name will ensure it stands forever, as a symbol of what those kids had to go through, as a symbol of endurance and triumph of the human spirit..."

"Tee hee, thats a good a reason as any." Tsunami giggled.

--

How was the chapter? I'm sure you all figured that Haku was going to stay with Naruto in the end, because it wouldn't have the emotional impact, or something like that otherwise. I'm not sure if I translated the great naruto bridge correctly, if you know of a better one let me know

On a different note, I'm sorry that I didn't get to the chunin exams yet, but you not what they say all in due time, but I try to end the chapter with either a twist, a cliff or some sort of ending so when readers read it, they think wow thats a kinda cool, feel good ending to the chapter, like a manga artist doing weekly chapters would, you know? Chapters to me should be like emotional rollar coasters, there are highs and lows, and I try to end it on an interesting not, but I'm not sure if I always get that point across but thats what I'm trying to do.

Anyways tell me what you think. Read and Review and whatnot. I don't mind it its only a couple of words or something I spelled wrong, just do what you can.

Look out next week for the start of the chunin exams.

This is Hiro, signing off.

Ja Mata.


	7. Innocence

Omake:

Author's Notes-This chapter deals with returning to daily life for Naruto and the rest of the gang and also getting used to the newest addition to Naruto's list of precious persons. So its very important to the development of their relationship as freinds, family, etc. Inspiration for this chapter comes from Hitokiri OTD's Tempered in Water. Its a great story if you like that pairing and one of my favorites. I strongly recommend it.

As always read and review, please and thank you.

Summary: After a fierce battle utop the Naruto Dai Ohashi, more famously known as the Great Naruto Bridge, Zabuza has died and Haku has been recovered alive. Naruto sensing Haku's pain, decides to invite Haku to come back to Konoha with the rest of team seven and after some soul searching and a long talk with Naruto Haku finally decides to follow Naruto.

And so commences the newest addition to Descending Heaven.

--

The group had finally arrived back in konoha. When they had walked through the front gates they were instantly escorted to the Hokage's office.

"And so thats how we met Haku-san and completed our escort mission to the land of waves" Kakashi finished explaining to the Hokage their situation.

"I see, so thats what happened." the Hokage said, his hands folded on top of his desk "I can't imagine that a simple mission could have escelated so far, but I must say, I am deeply impressed how this squad handled the mission."

"Thank you Hokage-sama" Kakashi replied.

"I will make sure you receive pay equal to an A rank mission for your efforts. Kakashi, Sakura, Sasuke, you are dismissed." the Hokage said, removing his usual pipe from his mouth and setting inside one of his drawers.

Haku watched with anticipation as the Hokage clear his desk of its usual papers. She was a little nervous speaking to the Hokage of the Konoha. He had the power to say whether or not she could stay in this village with her Naruto-sama.

"So, Haku-san, I understand that you wish to become a citizen and shinobi of Konoha." the Hokage said, folding his hands, leaning foreward in his chair.

"Yes" Haku croaked, her voice hoarse

"Then I must ask, why have you decided to do so?"

"I wished to stay as near as possible to Naruto-sama" Haku responded

"I see, why do you wish to stay with 'Naruto-sama' ?" the Hokage asked, eyeing the girl thoughtfully "Why do you care for a stranger you've known for only weeks?"

"Naruto-sama is my light and my master. I would do anything to protect him" Haku ansewered cooly, "the most effective way to do that is to become a konoha shinobi."

"Haku-san, I don't mean to be rude, but to be a ninja under a country, one must have absolute loyalty to the village. I'm not sure if you are aware of this, but Naruto is a very special case. What would happen if Naruto went rogue and I ordered that Naruto killed."

"I care nothing for this village nor its people nor do I favor any other village, however to protect my master, I would become the dog of Konoha." Haku paused before continuing "But...if you were to make me choose between Naruto-sama and Konoha, then I would not hesitate..."

"And?" Sarutobi asked.

"I would defend Naruto-sama with my life." Haku stated and though the volume of her volume had not changed Sarutobi would have had to be blind to miss the passion swelling within Haku's chocalate brown eyes.

Sarutobi too paused before speaking "I do hope you understand that your criminal record in addition to your the comments you've just made will make it impossible to become a fullfledged shinobi of Konoha."

"But oji-san!" Naruto interrupted.

"Therefore there will be a trial period. There will be an Anbu watch placed on Haku-san at all times, for the first three months. If any suspicious activity is detected, you will most likely be banished or even executed. However in light of the fact that you have aided team seven, you are free to go and explore anywhere you wish, within the village's limits of course. Do you accept the offer, Haku-san?"

"Hai," Haku responded.

"Very good" Sarutobi answered "then there is just the small matter of your residence Haku-san. I'm fully aware you can take care of yourself, but if you wish I could look for a temporary residence until you find a suitable place to stay..." The hokage said.

"That won't be neccesary" Haku responded, not a breath after the hokage had offered.

"Hmm?" the hokage asked through his pipe.

"I'll be staying with Naruto-sama from now on..."

"While it is unusual, both Naruto and you are considered to be legal adults and it is well within your own rights to choose to live together."

"Nani!" Naruto yelled at the top of his voice

"Sumimasen Naruto-sama, I forget my place." Haku said reproachfully, her eyes downcast "I merely thought that..."

"No, I-uuh, I guess... thats ok. As long as you don't mind a mess, I'd be happy to have you." Naruto stuttered "Its just that when I thought about living under the same roof with such a pretty girl. I-..."

"You think too much of me Naruto-sama, I'm honored" Haku said, fiddling with the edge of her yukata's sleeve, a slight blush accentuating her pale skin.

"It is settled, from now on Haku-san's permenant place of residence is with Naruto-kun."

"Then please take good care of me, Naruto-sama" Haku said, bowing.

"Of course" Naruto answered "then lets get going!"

"Where to Naruto-sama?" Haku asked, taken abruptly.

"Where else on a tour around Konoha, I want to show you around Konoha" Naruto answered, energetically pulling the lighter woman through the bustling streets of the leaf.

The blond jinchiruki led the two of them through the village at a frantic pace. Naruto had pointed out sites of interest to her and accompanied with almost all of them were amusing and highly exaggerated tales of Naruto's life in the village. Some stories were sad, but most made Haku giggle with laughter. Putting people at ease and humerous storytelling seemed to be two of Naruto's greatest talents.

"This is the place where I was tied up the day of the bell test, man I hated that stump. Ooh, and this is the place where I first learned the kage bunshin and this is..." Naruto continued.

"Oi! Aniki! Naruto!" a small boy wearing a much too large scarf called out. Beside the cocky boy where a sickly looking boy with snot dripping from his nose and a cheerful orange haired girl.

"Oh its you guys." Naruto responded.

"You guys!" Konohamaru yelled "We're the Konohamaru corps, where do you get the nerve to call us 'you guys' and besides where have you been aniki? We haven't played ninja with you in forever."

"Play ninja?" Haku thought aloud, slightly confused as to why a real ninja would play ninja.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, embarressed, "uhh, you see..."

"Who's the pretty Onee-chan?" the orange haired girl, Moegi asked, staring intently at Haku "She's beautiful."

Konohamaru smiled knowingly "Ahh I know, aniki, she's your..." holding up his little finger to show he meant girlfreind.

"Well..." Naruto said, rubbing his head embarressed once again.

"Pleased to meet you Konohamaru-san, I am Momoichi Mizukage Haku." Haku said, smiling.

"Aha I knew it, you two are like this" Konohamaru said crossing his pointer and middle finger.

"Konohamaru quit it! Enough with the sign language already!" Naruto yelled waving his arms dramatically at the Hokage's grandson.

"Oh my! Thats so wonderful!" Moegi said, blushing "How did you two meet?"

"Well see thats what I was trying to tell you earlier, I've been gone because I was on a super important mission." Naruto answered, grinning.

"A super secret mission!" the three ninja's in training said simultaniously.

"Ya, you see there was this important VIP named Tazuna and..." Naruto said, narrating a grossly exaggerated—and mostly false, story about the mission to the Wave to the Konohamaru corps, excluding the gory bits and the part about Haku's role in the mission. Three impressionable young minds were shocked and awed by Naruto's grand tale of courage.

"And you saved her, whoa thats amazing aniki! From now on you are officially our leader." Konohamaru said.

"Yah, thanks for playing ninja with us again" Udon added, sniffling between words.

"I'll be rooting for you" Moegi said, bringing her hands up to her face to cover the blush on her cheeks.

"See you later, alright, 'boss' " Konohamaru finished and with a small obviously homemade smoke bomb, the trio of pin-sized ninja were gone.

"Those three..." Naruto trailed off.

"I think thats wonderful that you spend time with those young ones Naruto-sama." Haku said suddenly in the silence that followed "I wish I had someone older to play with when I was there age."

Sakura and most other ninja would have said that playing ninja when you've already become a genin is a stupid waste of time, which could be spent training or on missions, but Haku's comment had caught Naruto totally off guard. It was pretty nice, being acknowledged every once in awhile, thought Naruto.

"No its nothing really, I guess I just have a way with kids aha ha ha." Naruto laughed, rubbing the back of his neck.

_The more I learn about Konoha, the more I learn about you, Naruto-sama, the more I'm happy to have you as my master _Haku thought to herself. The raven haired girl thought back to the time she was a child living in the gutters of the mist village. No shelter, no freinds, barely enough food to sustain her poor weak body. A solitary tear welled at the corner of Haku's chocolate brown eyes. How she had wished that she had found someone like Naruto while she was growing up. Maybe then... Blinking Haku removed the tear before Naruto could notice. _But_, she thought _Now Naruto-sama has found me now. Its more than I could ever have wished for. I-_

"Oi Haku-chan, come on there'ss one more place I want to show you."

Haku instantly snapped back out from her thoughts "Sumimasen Yes of course Naruto-sama."

"This," Naruto said "Is the ninja academy where I learned to be a ninja."

Haku looked at Konoha's Ninja Academy with interest. It looked surprisingly peaceful and utilitarian, more like a civilian school than a shinobi one in appearance. "It looks nice," Haku said wistfully as they walked onto the grounds. Though she had a few good memories from when Zabuza had taught her, a part of her wished that she could have learned in a place like the Academy.

Naruto's head lowered. "Yeah," he agreed quietly. By now, night had fallen over Konoha, the dim glow of a single streetlamp illuminated the academy, casting the school in a somber light. It was a nice place, for most young ninja. Naruto, on the other hand, didn't have too many good memories of the Academy. He had some for sure, but the bad far outweighed the good. For every happy memory with Iruka or Tenten, there were a dozen more full of mocking laughter, cold eyes, rejection, and bitter, bitter failure. Still, this was the place that he had learned to become a ninja, a very important part of his young life, the very first stepping stone on the long road to Hokage. "It's a nice place."

"Naruto-sama?" Haku's worried voice snapped him out of his melancholy.

Naruto half grinned feebly, a painful touch of nostalgia in it. "I used that swing a lot," Naruto pointed to the old, battered wooden swing that hung under the tree dominating the courtyard. "Whenever I failed the exam, I would sit on that swing and watch as all of the other kids were led away by their parents..."

"Naruto-sama…" The loneliness that he exhibited was palpable, and so very familiar. Haku did the only thing that came to mind. The raven haired kunoichi wordlessly stepped behind her master and wrapped her arms around him tightly. Naruto stiffened in surprise.

"Haku-cha-?"

"It's okay Naruto-sama," Haku whispered into his hair, "you're not alone anymore."

"Thank you, Haku-chan. I'm alright now" Naruto said, as Haku removed her hands from around him "Come on, its getting late lets eat and then, I'll show you your new home."

After leaving the academy Naruto headed straight for Ichiraku's. The teeny ramen stand was run by Teuchi and his young, cheerful daughter Ayame. Since Naruto provided most of the revenue for the restaraunt, they'd quickly become good freinds with the blond haired ninja.

"Hey old man Ichiraku! I'll take three deluxe miso ramen with an extra egg in it." Naruto asked at the top of his lungs, practically drooling from the delicious smell of ramen.

"What do you want Haku-chan?" the blond jinchiruki asked.

"Hmm" Haku pondered, tilting her head thoughtfully, then after a brief pause "I'll have one of what you're having."

"Alright four deluxe miso ramen please!"

"Well well if it isn't Naruto, I haven't seen you in awhile, whose the lady friend?" Teuchi asked, as he cooked up their orders.

"Oh this is Haku, she recently came her from Kiri and I was showing her around the village today." Naruto answered.

"Its a pleasure to meet you, please continue to take care of Naruto-sama" Haku said, clasping her hands and lowering her head respectfully.

"Shame on you Naruto-kun! Seeing another girl behind Tenten-chan's back, though I have to admit she's a cute one..." Ayame teased.

"Ayame-nee!" Naruto yelled.

"Now now don't get so worked up here's your ramen." the older man said, as he served the steaming noodles to the two ninja.

"Itadakimasu!" Naruto said, pulling apart a pair of disposible wooden chopsticks.

Haku watched Naruto tear into his bowl with amusement and quite a bit of amazement. She had never seen anyone eat so… enthusiastically before. Naruto abruptly stopped eating, and turned to look at her. He swallowed the hanging noodles with a wet slurp. "What?"

Haku blinked. "It's nothing," she said.

"Then eat before it gets cold!" Naruto urged. Haku nodded, smiling, and reached for a pair of chopsticks.

"It's great," she murmured quietly after taking her first bite. Naruto nodded happily, his mouth full to the bursting again. By the time Haku had finished her bowl, Naruto had finished all of his. Suprisingly, Naruto had managed to eat with some dignity, much better than usual, where he almost literally teared through bowls, noodles hanging out of his mouth. The blond jinchiruki sweatdropped as he noticed the father and daughter staring with a bit of a shock in their faces

"Uh... is something wrong?" Naruto asked after a brief silence.

"About this scene, there's something odd here... how do I put it?" Teuchi said, scratching his chin thoughtfully.

"Well its just, usually you just inhale the noodles when you order here. Seeing you actually chew the food, its a little odd" Ayame answered finally, laughing awkwardly, a bit embarressed.

"That's it!" agreed old man Teuchi.

Naruto scratched his head in an offhanded manner "Yah, Tenten-chan and Iruka-sensei always tell me to mind my manners when eating when girls are here because its rude. I guess it just stuck with me, who would have thought?"

"But Naruto" Ayame responded "I see you come in here with Tenten-chan all the time, and you still eat like a vacuum cleaner then."

"Hmm" Naruto said, pondering "I guess I've gotten so used to being around Tenten-chan, its like sometimes I forget she's a girl."

Ayame brought her hand to her face, shaking her head in a mixture of pity and disappointment "Naruto-kun..."

Naruto pulled out his frog wallet, bursting from the pay he received from the A rank mission, and quickly pulled out several bills. "Thanks for the meal!" He hopped off of the bar stool grinning at Haku, "Let's go!" Haku smiled back, feeling his infectious enthusiasm taking hold of normally solumn self once again.

Naruto led Haku through the twisting streets of Konoha. Finally coming to a stop at a rather shabby looking apartment complex. Pulling out a key from underneath the mat, Naruto opened the door.

"I'm sorry its a little mess, Tenten-chan usually makes/helps me clean up, but..." Naruto trailed on.

It had been more than ten years since that day her bloodline awakened, killing her parents, destroying most of their home. Since then 'home' had been wherever Zabuza was. Having an actual place to go back too... it was somewhat comforting and a little sad because it meant an end to one part of her life and the beginning of the next. Her mother came from a rich and well respected family that dated back to the very orgins of the Mist. Her father was a well respected, but poor shinobi who married into the family. Together the three of them lived in a large family compound with countless servents to maintain the manor. Most of it was surely gone by now, destroyed by the icy explosion that came with the awakening of her mother's bloodline, one of the most feared in Kiri and indeed the entire world. The shabby apartment could not even compare to the huge compound, big enough to accommadate nearly a hundred others. Still, there was a strange appeal in the slightly peeling white walls of Naruto's apartment.

"I'm home" Haku whispered.

She nearly jumped when a hand came down upon her shoulder. Haku looked up, shaken from her reverie. Naruto smiled at her reassuringly, "It's all right." Haku nodded, blinking back tears for the second time that day. The apartment was small and the white walls were decorated with various posters of Naruto's. Several potted plants, obviously well cared for, brightened up the otherwise dull atmosphere. It was cleaner than she'd expected, Haku could guess that Tenten helped him clean every once in awhile, but the cabinets were stocked with only ramen and his refrigerator lacked any sort of vegtables or fruit, and his milk was expired.

"Well, I'll show you to where you can sleep, then I guess you probably want to take a shower." Naruto said.

"Arigato Naruto-sama" Haku responded.

Naruto led the young woman through the small apartment till they reached the bedroom. A small wooden sign that read 'Naruto' hung near the top of the door. A soft creak could be heard as he opened the door to reveal a small rather bland bedroom furnished with a desk, a couple drawers, a nightstand with a small lamp on top and tucked into the corner, a lone bed with a green Konoha comforter atop it.

"You can sleep here for now Haku-chan, at least until I can clean out the guest room. I'll just use a futon." Naruto said, pointing to the bed.

"I couldn't possibly Naruto-sama, I shoul-" Haku started to say before Naruto interrupted her with a wave of his arm.

"Don't worry about it Haku-chan." Naruto said smiling and placing a hand on Haku's shoulder "Iruka-sensei and Tenten-chan always taught me to be nice to girls. What kind of man would I be if I let a pretty girl like Haku-chan sleep on the floor."

Haku opened her mouth like she was about to say something about the sleeping arrangments, but paused, closing her mouth till it resembled a thin even line, understanding that it would be an insult to refuse the offer. Then shaking her head slightly to show she disapproved, a small smile appeared on Haku's lips "Arigato Naruto-sama."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head embarressed "Yah whatever..."

"Haku, you probably want to get clean before you sleep. I'll unload your things, so you go take a shower" Naruto said, showing Haku the way to his bathroom.

Haku nodded and walked into small bathroom. Silently she slipped her kimono from her shoulders, revealing the white wrappings which prevented her still growing breasts from showing, mostly. Gazing at the mirror intently, she noticed, they had grown again, a little annoyed that they were showing through, even with loose clothes and bandages. Well, she thought, now that she was no longer a nukenin, but a lawful citizen of Konoha, it didn't really matter, whether she kept her disguise or not. Almost without thinking, her hands automatically folded the light blue yukata Tsunami had given her before she'd left the land of the waves. Her hands carassed the soft fabric absentmindidly. Unwrapping her bandages and taking off the rest of her clothes, Haku stept into the warm shower, letting the hot comforting water wash over her.

Outside in his small bedroom Naruto sighed his shoulders drooping. His apartment was a small one, having only a living room/kitchen, a bathroom, and a bedroom, there was another bedroom but Naruto had used it as his ninja equipment room and was filled with shuriken and scrolls. As it was now there was not really room for two people, let alone a teenage boy and girl. Naruto sighed at the thought of cleaning up the whole room as he unpacked Haku's stuff setting her clothes, ninja equipment and other miscellanous items on his bed. _Oh well maybe Tenten-chan will help. With three people it'd go by pretty quickly._ Deciding to let Haku take his bed for now and think about the rest later, Naruto unpacked a spare futon in the living room, placing Haku's spair clothes near the bathroom door so that Haku would have something to wear when she got out of the shower. Naruto blushed, as he heard the soft pattering of the water on the shower floor through the door, realizing Haku was taking a shower in his apartment, almost like... Naruto blushed heavily, a small amount of blood trickling out of his nose.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts Naruto changed into a spare t-shirt and shorts getting ready for bed. Yawning Naruto put on his favorite froggy nightcap. Crawling underneath the covers of the futon the exhausted blond ninja promptly fell asleep.

Stepping out the shower, Haku thought as she towel dryed herself off, seeing the clothes Naruto had left for her _My choice in attire is limited, I could only bring so much with me on the road with her mentor, father figure. I'll have to eventually get some new clothes, though I'd hate to burden Naruto-sama. Zabuza-san left me some money, perhaps I can purchase some appropriate attire with that. Maybe Tenten-san would show me where I could find some clothes Naruto-sama would like for me to wear. _After drying her body and combing her long silky hair, Haku slipped into a white yukata, slowly opening the bathroom door. Hearing Naruto's light and by now familiar snoring coming from the front room, the former nukenin smiled.

Without a sound, a true testament to her near unmatchable stealth, Haku slipt into Naruto's old room. Unbenownst to Haku, unease had been building up all day in Haku's chest. It was true that she had been the one who insisted on living with Naruto to protect him, but that didn't stop the butterflies flying around in her stomach. Hesitantly Haku sat down on Naruto's bed, feeling the unusual, almost comforting support of the mattress beneath her. Needless to say she hadn't slept on mattresses much, even one as raggedy as Naruto's. Finally Haku mustered the courage to actually lie down on the small bed. It smelled of ramen and green things, which is to say Naruto smelled like a combination of the local forests and ramen, an odd but soothing combination. Smiling contently, she inhaled the fragrance deeply feeling her worries melt away. Haku turned onto her side, her hands grabbing at the bed's green comforter.

However as comfertable as the bed was Haku could not sleep. The raven haired girl tossed and turned under the covers, trying to find a good position, without luck.

"I guess I'm just too used to sleeping on the ground." Haku said, finally rising from the bed. Pulling at the neck of her slipping yukata, the raven haired kunoichi sighed, deciding to check to see if her master was sleeping.

Having quickly memorized the small apartments layout, including the squeaky floorboards, Haku's feet quietly padded against the floor as the former nukenin made her way to the living room.

Naruto was sleeping and quite soundly at that, spreadeagled, his blanket only partially covering the frog patterned pajamas he wore. Smiling endereangly at Naruto, Haku pulled the covers over the sleeping jinchiruki so that he didn't catch cold. Suddenly Haku stopped, something catching her eye, her head only inches away from Naruto's. Haku could not help but stare at her master as he slept. _He's so cute when he sleeps, but its unusual Naruto-sama is usually so energetice, seeing him so calm like this is a little odd, like the wind before a storm. _Suddenly a strange urge coursed through Haku, one she'd never felt before in her entire life. For some reason she wanted to bring her lips to meet with Naruto's own.

_I could... _

_no one would know, least of all Naruto-sama..._

Slowly Haku brought her lips closer and closer to Naruto's, until they were no more than an inch apart, her heart beating in her chest at ten times its normal rate.

_What am I doing? I can't take advantage of Naruto-sama, I don't love him, not like this... _Haku thought to herself, confused the raven haired beauty backed away from the sleeping form of Naruto, clasping her hands tightly together.

--

"Ahh, I'm awake what a great sleep, I wonder how Haku-chan is doing?" Naruto said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, as he removed his nightcap from his head. Feeling a bit lethargic he slowly slid off the heavy cover of his futon from his body. Was his futon usually this soft or this warm? or heavy?

Naruto nearly had a heart attack, for the first time actally looking down at his futon. His eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as he took in the sight before him. Clutching his chest, her yukata slightly askew was a sleeping Haku. (Just think C.C.-chan clutching cheesy-kun, except replacing the doll with Naruto)

"What the hell!" Naruto screamed.

"hmm.. Naruto-sama!" Haku said instantly springing awake.

"Haku, w-what are you doing in my futon!" Naruto stuttered pointing towards Haku's messed up yukata.

Haku's eyes widened as she realized what had happened _I must have fallen asleep after I tried to kiss... _

_No I can't let Naruto-sama find out, if he did I..._ she thought, completely embarressed.

"Haku-chan?"

"I'm sorry Naruto-sama, I was just a little lonely and frightened sleeping in a strange room, away from you Naruto-sama, not that your room is strange or anything! Its just..." Haku trailed off.

Naruto sighed deeply "Its alright Haku I understand it can be a little scary the first night, especially in a cruddy apartment like mine."

"I'll tell you what, I'll set up my futon in the bedroom too, as long as you don't mind, that way we won't have this problem again, ok?" Naruto asked.

"Hai Naruto-sama!" Haku answered.

After that little incedent, Haku cooked breakfast with whatever she could find in Naruto's apartment, resolving to buy some groceries later that day, after all they couldn't live off of ramen forver. While Naruto was off at Team Seven's meeting ground, Haku started cleaning up the apartment making it livable for two people and after asking some directions managed to find a couple places to buy groceries for the two of tem and other neccesities for herself.

Naruto stopped suddenly as he rounded the first corner he usually took to get to Team Seven's training ground from his apartment. Leaning against the fence, dressed in a pink and black variation of her standard chinese style shirt and pants, stood Tenten, her arms crossed over her chest.

"N-Naruto-kun" Tenten said, unable to meet Naruto's eyes "So I heard Haku's living with you now."

Naruto rubbed his head, caught off guard "Yah, Haku-chan asked to move in with me and since she didn't have any place to go and she didn't know anyone else, I..."

"I see" the bunhaired kunoichi said, her voice even and without a hint of emotion, in a way that gave Naruto no clue as to what she was thinking.

"Well, I've got to get going, Gai-sensei is preparing us for the upcoming chunin exam, we're taking a trip to do some special training, so I-um, might not be able to see you for awhile." Tenten said, a hint of sadness in her eyes.

"Wow, thats great Tenten-chan, I wish I could have came with you guys" Naruto smiled, earnestly happy for his bunhaired teammate.

"Y-yah, well then, ja ne" Tenten said, standing up straight again. A bittersweet smile on her lips, Tenten waved goodbye "take care, Naruto-kun."

"H-hai" Naruto responded, a little confused as to why the weapons mistress was sad. If it were him getting special training by his sensei, then he'd be extatic, but Tenten had seemed more sad than anything else. Lost in thought, Naruto watched the retreating form of the bunhaired kunoichi as her figure was lost among the hustle and bustle of Konoha's streets.

Tenten walked as fast as she could, barely containing herself from breaking out into a run. Ducking into an alleway, the weapon's mistress blinking back tears. She couldn't help but think, how the two had became such close freinds in such a small amount of time, how the girl seemed to follow the blond genin around like a lost puppy, how the she seemed to connect at a level deeper than Tenten had ever reached with Naruto, how they were now living together, how unfair it was that the older girl was so much stronger with her bloodline limit, how unfair it was that she was prettier and more feminine than her, despite the fact she'd masqueraded as a boy for more than a decade.

_That girl, she's stealing Naruto-kun away from me._ she thought, slamming a fist against the wall. Reaching into the pouch resting against her hip, her fingers found the familiar grip of her favorite kunai, her fingers tracing the familiar grooves etched into her mind better than on the handle. Then biting her lip lightly to clear her head, Tenten calmly walked out of the allyway in search of her team.

--

After Haku finished shopping for groceries and Naruto had finished his meeting with team seven about the upcoming chunin exams, he and Haku trained together on the same training ground, the afternoon sparing session eventually becoming something of a routine. On rare occasions in the following months, after Team Gai returned from their training trip, whenever they managed to get away from team trainings Tenten and, or Lee trained with Naruto also, one of the few times he was able to meet the busy second year genin what with extra team practices and missions taking up nearly all their time. Though Naruto could still talk to the raven haired kunoichi, Teuchi and Ayame, and even Iruka-sensei, he was sorely missing the time he'd spent with Tenten.

Naruto struggled to learn the basic techniques Haku had to teach him, not being very skilled at nature manipulation or basic stealth, or speed, or taijutsu, but slowly and surely he began to improve. Seeing Lee train for hours on end till he was covered in bruises had taught him that hard work and effort could equal and even surpass genius, so Naruto trained hard too. Kenjutsu on the other hand was nearly impossible. The headchopper cleaver that Zabuza had left him was nearly impossible to use. It was heavy cumbersome and nearly as tall as Naruto, if not taller. It didn't seem like Naruto would ever be able to use it in battle, especially not without a proper kenjutsu master's training.

Naruto sank into his futon exhausted from a night full of sword training, his arms feeling like two noodles attached to his body. Thankfully Haku hadn't entered Naruto's futon after that first time, so he could sleep without causing himself too much pain.

_Zabuza couldn't have thought when he left this sword to me that I could possibly master this huge a sword, could he? There must be some trick to what he said, something I'm not getting... _Naruto thought as he drifted off to sleep.

--

**Wake Up Naruto-kun... **a mysterious, almost playful feminine voice whispered in the dark recesses of Naruto's mind as he slept in his futon by the bed Haku was now sleeping in.

"Huh? What was that? Kyuubi, is that you?" The fox jinchuruki said in his mind, trying to wipe the sleep from his eyes.

**Naruto-kun, I'm waiting for you... **

_What do you mean waiting,who are you?_ Naruto found himself surrounded by pitch black darkness, in every direction, as far as the eye could see.

"This isn't the sewer" Naruto thought with the absentmindidness that comes with waking from sleep.

**Be Patient. We have so much time. Take your time...**

**It is unwise to rush in before you are ready. Dont be afraid...**

"I don't understand..." Naruto said, staring into the darkness.

**so much to do, so little time, take your time, do not be afraid... Now step forward, can you do that? **

Naruto gulped and stepped forward and then another into the darkness.

**Power sleeps within you, the power to destroy or protect, give it form...**

The darkness faded as suddenly as it had come, revealing a frozen wasteland, dominated by gigantic mountain peaks, and smothered completely in snow, unlike anything that Naruto had ever seen before, and indeed unlike anything remotly within the element countries.

**Where am I? I... I can't remember anything... **this voice was different from the first, weras the first had a deep rich musical mysterious quality to it, the second voice still seemed to belong to a female, but one much younger, more confused, and more than a little afraid.

"What is this place?"

Naruto's eyes strained against the snow and wind. Struggling against the fierce gales, he took a step forward and then another.

**Who am I? **the voice said, questioning. The young woman's voice ringing in Naruto's ears.

Slipping on a stone hidden by the snowfall, Naruto stumbled, falling face first into the icy snow, odd black blood gushing from a cut on his temple where he'd landed. As the blood dripped onto the snow, its dark color spreaded, the snow covering the ground becoming jet black. Within seconds the white powdery ground beneath him had become a dense, somewhat liquidish black pool of shadow all around, him stretching endlessly in all directions, swallowing up even the mountains before him and though he could no longer see the mountains nor the snow, the wind continued to howl loudly clawing at his face and deafening his ears.

Naruto struggled to stand up, to pull himself free from the viscous mixture, wrenching his arm free from the dark liquid. Naruto took another step forward, startled to find his foot begin to sink as if caught in black quicksand. Naruto sank faster and faster until only his torso remained. Naruto struggled and struggled to no avail, the darkness eating away at his clothes and skin, sinking into the darkness.

**Who are you?**

"Somebody! Anyone! Help me!" Naruto yelled out loud, or maybe he was only screaming in his mind, as it was the terrified blond genin couldn't tell. The shadowy substance caused Naruto to sink and sink until only his hand, outstretched above his head was visible.

**You have to answer that... though it may be difficult.**

With one last feeble attempt to break free finally his entire body was consumed by the darkness.

**For the sake of all those connected to you, you must. And... For your own sake as well.**

Naruto was now surrounded by the murky blackness, its thick mixture sapping his strength dulling his movements. It felt like he was swimming through tar, flailing but unable to go anywhere. Finally, the fox jinchiruki stopped struggling, his lungs devoid of air, his arms dangling helplessly at his side. Lying there helpless, Naruto cried, tears unwillingly leaking from the corners of his eyes, mixing with the pool of darkness flowing around him.

**Do not vanish...**

Suddenly Naruto saw a little girl, not more than ten years of age, crying as her parents were killed before her eyes, devoured by a monsterous yoma. Then he watched as the girl was abducted by the yoma, using her as part of its plans to eat more human flesh. He watched as those villagers stared at her with glaring eyes full of suspicion and fear. Tears ran down her cheeks as she cryed, sobbing silently, her voice all but gone. Then Naruto watched as the most beautiful woman the girl had ever seen had walked through the village, easily dispatching several of those monsters, including her own personal torturer. Tears once again flew down her pale cheeks, tears of joy as she was freed from her captivity. However, the newfound joy within the girl's heart could not distract her from the enigmatic woman's pain. So she followed, unwanted, a pest a nuisance, always struggling. Naruto saw many more images/memories of the woman, always smiling, a fake, sarcastic, excuse for a smile, one it seemed she could not break, a mask, hiding the pain, the lonliness within the enigmatic woman's heart.

**Persist! Never give up, live on...**

Heartbroken, the little girl followed the enigmatic lady, the two eventually became quite close and as the flashbacks continued, Naruto could tell the smile was becoming more and more real. The woman talked endlessly with the girl, unconciously pouring out her heart to the girl and the girl followed always listening, always comforting. The same scenario replayed itself, travel to a new town, effortlessly kill a monster, and then travel to a new town. At night, the woman watched as the girl slept on her lap, sometimes brushing away a stray hair on the girl's face, always smiling. Naruto thought as he watched, that this must be what having a mother is like. What happened next was a little hazy, filled with a dream-like aura, but the beautiful woman with her silvery eyes and long hair died. Her once-frozen heart melted by the girl, the woman showed compassion and died for it. For a long time the little girl cried, her whole world shaken, unable to go on, unable to live without her precious person.

**Struggle forward, with all your might.**

Unable to walk away, the girl became one with the woman. Then the flashes started appearing faster, picking up speed and the little girl became a warrior. Vaguely, Naruto could catch glimpses of other women like her, many freinds and many more as foes. Beside them, Naruto saw large vicious monsters with tentacles, blades, armor, in all manner of shapes and sizes, unfamiliar lands, and blood, lots and lots of blood. Blood was everywhere, its telltale ruby hue dotting the ground from underneath.

As Naruto watched this he couldn't help but think _That girl... Haku... Tenten... me... we're the same. _Their childhoods were miserable, they were completely alone, orphans. Finally they found precious people, that they'd do anything to help. Naruto could only imagine the sorrow he'd feel if Tenten and Iruka were taken from him. A lone tear fell down as Naruto watched the images, until...

**Nomatter how difficult the path you've chosen.**

Finally the images stopped, replaced by one single picture, of a beautiful woman in a form fitting brown leather outfit, her sword resting in her palm, lying on the ground, blood trickling down the side of her face. One arm clutched her side, racked from pain and numerous wounds. Her hair was so pale a blond it was almost white, her eyes feral and gold. Still as strikingly different as the two were Naruto could tell that the woman lieing before him was the girl from before. Blood drenched the ground around her, whether it was her own or someone elses, the woman did not know, could not remember. Still, as much pain as the woman was in, a peacful smile graced her femininly features. Oddly content, the woman closed her eyes for the last time, the mirthful smile still on her lips and then, only death remained.

_Do Not Disappear!_

The image of the woman was replaced by another. This one of a gothic church, giant stain glass windows glittering in the dim sunlight. In the center, a lifesize statue of two woman stood, so real that the figures seemed almost alive. Back to back twin heavenly goddesses, ethereal angels, stood, wings outspread, long hair flowing behind them, their hands clasped in reverent prayer.

Suddenly Naruto's very world seemed to pulsate, like the heartbeat in his chest only magnified a thousand fold, growing stronger and stronger till... Naruto woke up with a yell, arms tearing at the covers, his body covered in cold sweat, his heart racing.

--

Well what did you think, different huh? That last part is actually inspired by the first Kingdom Hearts opening. I finished that game so long ago, but that beggining was just so dramatic, one of those awe-inspiring moments, that sends a chill up your spine, that I couldn't help but use it to reveal Naruto's spirit. Review, email, or pm me to tell me what you think about the chapter, if it was too complicated, if you didn't like it(of course it would help if you could suggest how to change it). If you have any suggestions or comments, especially for the shikai and bankai of Tenten or anything else, please contact me. Thanks, Heero out.

To be continued.


	8. The Deal

"Ahh students, today we have a special treat in store for you. The Rokudaime Hokage is here to visit the class and check on your progress. Make sure you are all giving him your undivided attention." a nameless, underpayed teacher said.

"Hai sensei!" the students shouted in unison.

Suddenly, a feirce wind blew through the room, blowing away all the paper in the room. The wind gathered in the middle of the room and created a mini tornado.

"Hey kids! Whats up?" in the center of the room a grown up Naruto appeared, leaning on the teacher's podium.

"Hokage-sama, my papers!" the nameless, relatively unimportant, underappreciated teacher whined, looking at the destruction the hokage had done to the stacks of papers on his desk.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head in embarresment "Whoops, I should have remembered that from last time, heh heh... Well anyway, I was just passing by and I'd thought I would see how you kids were doing, after all you guys might be taking care of me when I'm old."

"Hai, Hokage-sama" the students chorused.

Naruto averted his face from the kids, so they couldn't see the joy on his face. To himself, Naruto whispered "Man, no matter how many times they say it, it never gets old."

One of the students, a girl wearing brown hair in a ponytail asked "Hokage-sama, why are you giggling?"

"Muhahahaha! More, more! Everyone call me hokage-sama!" Naruto said, laughing maniaclly.

"uhh sensei, hokage-sama is creeping me out"

"Wha-ohh sorry about that, I get carried away sometimes, but since I have your guys attentions already I'll test you guys-uhh, what is the current Kazekage's name?"

"Sabaku no Garra!"

"Good, Sabaku no Garra, how about what is the technique for creating clones of yourself?"

"Bunshin no jutsu!"

"Good, Bunshin no jutsu, now more importantly, who is the greatest hokage ever?"

"Ohh I know pick me!" a student called.

"Yes you!" Naruto pointed to the smiling student.

"The proffesor, Sandiame!"

"What, oji-san! No!" Naruto shouted, his eyes the size of saucers.

"The first hokage?" another student said.

"What no!" Naruto responded.

"The fifth, Tsunade?" yet another one responded.

"Oba-chan, are you crazy? Grr, all of you to the principal's office right now!" Naruto said in a aggrivated voice.

The blond haired hokage muttered to himself, "I get no respect, you know that?"

The teacher sweatdropped.

--

**Author's Note:**Hey guys I'm back with another chapter of descending heaven in honor of whatever holiday it is.

I want to thank and encourage everyone who reviewed, as any ideas or praise are appreciated. I might have rushed this chapter and I wasn't satisfied with it in the least but I hope you guys find it acceptable. On a side note, I just finished watching the whole series of Eureka Seven, and I gotta just say wow. It was one of the best I've ever watched, and certainly one of the deepest. I think I understand why a bunch of my friends really liked this series, even those who think anime is stupid. Also, usually the ending to any good series is pretty crappy and leaves me regretting the end, but Eureka Seven's ending was fairely good. I recommend anyone who hasn't watched it, watch it!

Nothing much else comes to mind so...

**Summary:**Naruto, Tenten, and the rest of the team have just completed the land of the waves mission. Haku pledged to follow Naruto and is staying with blond haired jinchiruki. As a pledge of her allegiance, Haku has given Naruto Zabuza's sword to keep for his use. In the last chapter Haku has moved into Naruto's apartment and the two are starting to adjust to living with one another, much to Tenten's chagrin.

Yosh! On to another exciting chapter of Descending Heaven!

--

To gain one something of equal value must first be lost, one of the most ancient and widly known sayings, dating back to the very founding of the element countries. To become strong one must spenda great deal of time and energy in return for enhanced strength, speed, chakra control, the very fruit of their labour.

Nothing greater can be gained. Nothing greater can be lost. The perfect value... equal... and balanced, or else harm will come.

Naruto had gotten up early that day to make up for not training the previous day when he was showing Haku around. Still half asleep, the blond jinchiruki practiced swinging the giant headchopper cleaver, trying to get used to the sword's overwhelming height and weight. Unfortunatly, he had a difficult time adjusting to the sword because Naruto wasn't very tall and didn't weigh that much, he was often off balance and that huge weight and size made it almost impossible to effectivly use it in combat and truth be told even with the weapons crash course Tenten had given him, Naruto was more of a brawler to begin with, the finess and subtley needed to weild a blade, even one as large as Zabunza's, were not among the orange ninja's finer points.

**"Kit, as it is now, that sword is useless. Trying to fight with that thing is like putting a 'Kick Me in the Ass, I'm A Moron' sign on your back, I mean just look at it! Its taller than you are. "**

"I know, but I'm going to learn how to use it, whatever it takes" Naruto said, grunting as he swung the zanbatou once more.

A zanpakuto is in essence, a physical manifestation of one's soul and as such, they can only be effectivly used by the matching owner. The form, the ability, and especially the spirit, each mirror and reveal parts of the weilder's own soul, whether they wish it to or not.

To obtain that physical manifestation of your soul, a peice of your soul must be lost in order to create it.

**"Whatever it takes?"** the Kyuubi asked in a too innocent voice.

"Of course, to become Hokage, to protect my precious people I'll do anything it takes." Naruto replied with conviction.

--Flashback no Jutsu--

The day right before Team Seven and company left the land of the waves, Haku had taken Naruto to the grave of Zabuza once again, the missing ninja's giant sword marking his grave. After lighting an incense stick in honor of her deceased former master, Haku bowed her head in reverance.

"Naruto-kun, the day you saved my life and became my Naruto-sama, do you remember it?" Haku said.

Naruto tried to think back to the incident on the bridge, but try as he might he couldn't remember anything after receiving Kakashi's Chidori to the chest.

"I'm sorry Haku-chan, I don't remember anything past when you disappeared into an ice mirror." he responded "I just remember wanting to save you."

"It is fine Naruto-sama, please do not strain yourself, it is most likely for the best you do not remember" Haku paused before continuing "Zabuza-san wanted to give you something if you survived."

"He wanted to give you his sword, that he received as proof of his title as one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist" Haku explained.

Naruto waved his hands in front of his face "I couldn't take that from a dead person, it wouldn't be right, like robbing a grave."

"Is it better then for it to sit here, useless to anyone?" the raven haired beauty mused.

"Well-" Naruto started.

"Naruto-sama, many find it to be disrespectful to kill and then desecrate the body of an animal by harvesting its fur or by cooking it, but is it not even more disrespetful to kill the animal and then leave its body there? Isn't it wrong for the poor thing to have died and to not even be made use of? Does that not mean that, that animal died for nothing? That its' death had no meaning, no purpose..."

Naruto thought back to what Haku had said on the bridge _To be not needed by anyone is a terrible thing... a life without purpose is meaningless._

"I understand now Haku-chan, with this sword, I'll become the greatest Hokage there ever was." Naruto said, removing the giant headchopper blade and placing it on his back.

Haku nodded her head in silent agreement. Satisfied, the mysterious raven haired kunoichi placed the much worn scarf she wore around her neck on top Zabuza's headmarker. Looking back at the lone grave marker Haku smiled brightly at her master, who returned the smile awkwardly, as he walked in step with her, lugging the giant headchopper cleaver on his back.

"Naruto-sama..."

--

**"So thats why you want to use that sword, to impress a vixen, well listen kit, the reason that sword is so heavy is because Zabuza is still the rightful owner of that sword, but even though the blade has already chosen you as its next master, you still have to prove your worthy," **the Kyuubi mused.

"How do you know it chose me?" Naruto asked.

**"That Zabuza left this sword to you was no coincidence kit, it was hitsuzen. You had the dream didn't you?"** the Kyuubi asked.

Naruto thought back to the strange dream he'd had of that woman and the statue of the two goddesses, then nodded his head once.

**"This sword is alive, kit. I don't think you understand how rare this sword is or how much that man entrusted to you. Despite its monsterous appearance, kit, this sword is very special, one of only seven in the world, one for each swordsman of the mist. **

"Really Kyuubi-tan? How can you tell?" he asked.

**Look at the pommel of the sword kit, there should be something enscribed there.**

True to the Kyuubi's word, on the hilt of Zabuza's sword, unmistakibly etched into the metal was a cross, "The kanji for seven?" asked Naruto.

**Yes kit, the symbol is a marker of its authenticity. It means that he was a true member of the Legendary Seven Swordsmen. **

"But... why seven?" Naruto asked, "Why not one or three?"

**From two to seven, each blade is marked according to the user's ability. The stronger you are the lower your rank. That means Zabuza was the weakest of this generation's current swordsmen.**

"The weakest!" Narto exclaimed, unable to believe that the monster who had almost defeated Kakashi-sensei, their whole squad, even without Haku's help "Thats impossible..."

**Its true kit**

"Neh, Kyuubi" Naruto asked "You said two through seven are ranked, what about the number one swordsmen of the mist?"

**Kukuku... The weilder of 'the First' as it is called, is the Mizukage.**

"The Mizukage?"

**Yes kit, unlike the others, is hereditary, the First, is passed on from father to son. The royal line of the Mist, the strongest, the Mizukage.**

**A zanpakuto has the special ability to draw out the true weilders true nature and innate abilities, in that way each sword is unique. Each ability is usually capable of unsurmountable feats of destruction, they were strong enough to catch even my attention. Though its quite unusual that someone not from the mist would inherit even one of the swords.**

"I see" Naruto said, gazing intently at the giant sword in his hands "So what do I have to do to use it."

"You have to pay a price kit, the one thing you value the most in this world" The Kyuubi said.

"No, you can't make me-" Naruto yelled "I won't ever give up ramen!"

The Kyuubi facevaulted.

"Its already been taken care of kit, you don't have to worry anymore" the Kyuubi said, its voice once again deadly serious, yet oddly whimsical.

"What! Not even a cooling off period?" Naruto yelled.

"Nope, its been decided already kit, the wheel of fate is now in motion" the Kyuubi responded with a hint of humour in his voice.

A bright red box the size of a tissue box, encrusted with a flowery gold design appeared in front of Naruto inside the Kyuubi's mind,

"Take it Kit"

Wordlessly Naruto opened the box suprised to find a hilt inside it. The blond jinchiruki grasped the object with his hand, the blade suprisingly warm in his hand. With one heave, Naruto pulled the sword clean out of the strange container.

It was an elegant katana with a bright silver sheen and a wavy bluish tempering on the bladed side. It had a black hilt with the standard orange crossweaving. The handguard was square and made out of a strange goldish metal(the kind zanpakutos in bleach are made out of) with one small spiral in the upper right hand corner of the guard, and a hole diagonal of that, both about the size of a marble. Its scabbard was orange bordering on red, with gold banding around the top, middle, and towards the bottom.

The blade was beautiful, and seemed to way no more than a feather in Naruto's arm, so much lighter and less cumbersome than Zabuza's. Eager to try it out, Naruto swung it a few times, almost shaking in awe as he felt the raw power of the blade, slicing through the air like butter.

"This is so cool!"

"Naruto, listen closly, that sword is in essence, another reflection of you. As long as you live it will never dull and never crack, that is unless it is damaged in a fight, but even then, it'll repair itself. It is the embodiment of your spirit, your soul and as such has its own soul. The soul of the sword and the soul of the weilder are two sides of the same coin. Through interaction with your zanpakuto's spirit, you may even learn something important about yourself... But this is the real important part kit, as soon as you can understand the name of your zanpakuto, call it out everything will be made clear then," the Kyuubi instructed.

Anything you value is metephorically your soul, in other words, the thing you love most is exchanged, becoming your zanpakuto. It is a binding contract, the Shinigami gives no refunds.

"Then it is settled, I will collect that brownhaired girl as the boy's payement." a voice that seemed to echo from everywhere within the pitch black void surrounding the Kyuubi no Kitsune on all sides. The Kyuubi seemed merely bored, its tails whipping impatiently in the air.

On the other side of the village, Tenten was training with the rest of Team Gai. They were sparring against each other, something Gai insisted on doing so that they could learn each others tendancies. It was done in match format. First two of them fought, then the winner went on to fight the third opponent. Invariably Neji almost always won in the end, but it was good practice for all of them.

A battered Lee sat next to Gai, clutching a dislocated and jyuukened arm, watching as Tenten and Neji traded blows.

The brown haired girl ducked under one of Neji's jyuuken strikes, then using his shoulder as a stepping stone launched herself into the air. With one hand she unwrapped her summoning scroll, firing a wave of kunai at Neji, who blocked with his Kaiten.

Smirking, Tenten pulled out two combat knives with serrated edges, about as long as her forearm. Holding them so they pointed downward, she darted in like a blur, applying chakra to her feet.

The Kaiten is a jutsu that was developed to compliment the Hyuuga bloodline, only able to be performed by a Hyuuga because of the immense chakra control required. To perform it, the user first expels chakra into the air from every tenketsu in the body, then the user spins rapidly creating a inpenetrable miniature tornado of chakra, which also serves to mask the Hyuuga's blind spot as well. It is a little known fact that right after completing the Kaiten, there is a split second where the Hyuuga is vulnerable to attack, where chakra must be expelled again. However, few can exploit this because the Kaiten blows away any close opponents but also because few can match a Hyuuga in close range combat anyway, close range jyuuken strikes being among the deadliest techniques around.

Rushing in she attacked the Hyuuga with her weapons, deftly evading jyuuken strikes. Tenten slashed at Neji's face, who dodged. Dodging the jyuuken palm, she sweepkicked the Hyuuga, who jumped into the air.

"I can do this," Throwing her blades, Tenten watched as the Hyuuga prodigy once again rotated forcefuly with his Kaiten, knocking away the weapons.

"This match is mine!" Summoning one large wreckingball-like mace, Tenten appeared behind the unaware Hyuuga prodigy, in the 359 degree blindspot, with one mighty heave, the spiked ball came down with terrifying speed towards the black haired Hyuuga. Just before the weapon would have made contact, suddenly Tenten's body pulsed, the chain slipped from her lifeless fingers and poofing out of existance. The bunhaired kunoichi's eyes went blank as she plummeted to the ground.

"Tenten?" Lee asked, not realizing what had happened..

In a flash, Gai appeared, catching the bunhaired kunoichi just before she hit the ground.

"Tenten, what's going on Gai?" Neji asked, rushing over to his teammate.

"Tenten?" Gai asked

"Tenten!"

Above in the clouds, Naruto watched as Tenten fell slowly to the earth, unconcious. Her body sickly still. The bunhaired girls eyes seemed to stare into space, open, but unable to see in the slightest.

"Tenten-chan!" Naruto yelled, struggling to somehow reach out and touch the bunhaired kunoichi, to no avail "What's happening Kyuubi? Kyuubi!"

"The thing you value the most in this world isn't something as paltry as ramen noodles, a headband from your beloved sensei or even the prized necklace you will soon wear around your neck, it is the love and memories of this girl that I shall take away. It will be as if she never even existed." a voice said, seeming to come from the area surrounding Naruto as well as within his own mind.

"No, that can't be right," Naruto said, falling to his knees in disbelief "I didn't want this, Kyuubi-tan, you tricked me..."

"Anything it takes to become Hokage, isn't that what you said kit?" Kyuubi asked as it walked around Naruto slowly, its tails trailing behind it, its body the size of a large bear.

."Don't you want to be respected and loved by the whole leaf village and feared by your enemies? What is one measly vixen against an entire village?" Kyuubi whispered into Naruto's ear

A stream of images poured into Naruto's head of Naruto being cheered on by hundreds of adoring fans, women throwing themselves at his feat, images of fame, of wealth, of power.

""The path to becoming Hokage is bloodier than you could ever imagine kit, but this zanpakuto will give you the power to destroy all of your enemies. The previous Mizukage even rose to the throne by using the Shinigami's gift."

The blond fox container looked at the motionless body of Tenten once more. What had once been so full of life now seemed so deathly still, her eyes closed and skin already pale.

"No way" Naruto yelled throwing the sword onto the ground "I'd rather die than sacrifice Tenten for power because she's, well... she's the most precious person in the world to me... Even if I tried, I couldn't, not after everything they've done for me... Without them, without her I couldn't go on living."

"I see" the Shinigami said mysteriously, suprising Naruto.

"Congratulations kit, you pass" the Kyuubi said.

"Passed? What, I don't get it?" Naruto said clueless once again "What's going on here? What's going to happen to Tenten?"

"Have no fear Naruto-kun, in a few moments time she will wake up absolutely fine in a konoha hospital bed, as if she had been merely sleeping" the Shinigami said, his voice mirthful.

"I asked the Shinigami to test your resolve to become stronger. To see if you would be able to sacrifice in order to keep the three things most important to biju honor, pride, and power, to see if you truely were worthy of this sword and I can't tell you how deeply pleased I am with the result."

"B-but I failed..." Naruto said, his voice barely above a whisper "I couldn't do it, I could never give up Tenten-chan, Iruka-sensei, Haku-chan."

"But in failing, you have passed all the more" the Kyuubi responded, a trace of mystery in its speech.

"Naruto-kun, if you had sacrificed this child's life for power, your sword would have never been more than a regular katana, sentient but never truly alive. However because you have shown your own nobility, the noble spirit within your blade will awaken,." the Kyuubi explained "and... the girl's life will be saved."

"So she's alright" Naruto said, wiping his eyes with his orange sleeve "Thank goodness."

"Until we meet again Naruto-kun" the Shinigami whispered and slowly Naruto's vision blurred, the ninetailed fox becoming hazier and hazier until the blond ninja passed out, darkness consuming everything.

**Soon kit, your zanpakuto's spirit will guide you on your path to awakening your powers. I must say kit I'm a little proud of you, none of this was my doing, it was all you kit. **The kyuubi whiped a tear from his eye with a tail, weeping from pride.

_Did you say something Fuzzball? _Naruto mentally thought.

Kyuubi whiped away another tear from his eye **"No, go away kit, I'm not crying (sob sob)" **The demonic ninetails blew his nose with an oversized tissue.

Naruto sweatdropped _Whatever..._

--

Meanwhile, in the kitchen Haku was busy making the apartment livable for two people. Since she had come to Konoha more than a month ago, she had abandoned her boyish clothes in favor of yukatas and more femininly clothing that either Tsunami had given or Naruto had purchased for her, seeing little reason to hide her gender anymore. Of course, the change hadn't stopped wearing her black choaker. She'd kept her hair down and it had grown a bit longer since she'd come to Konoha, longer than she'd ever had it while with Zabuza, after all having long hair was a major disadvantage in combat, especially the high speed combat Haku was used to. Haku had thought about cutting it several times, but decided not, after learning Naruto preffered girls with longer hair.

Drying a dish with a rag, absentmindidly Haku thought about Naruto and her new life in Konoha.

The icy ninja smiled, to be honest, she was happy here, despite the Anbu watch. Compared to the mist village, Konoha was peaceful and quiet and for once in her life, Haku was able to live a normal, as can be expected anyway, life. It didn't matter that all of the inhabitants stared at her when she walked with Naruto-kun, no one singled her out for her bloodline limit. As far as anyone was concerned she was just a normal 16 year old girl living with a demented demon bent on destroying the little peace they had.

Haku smiled when she thought about Naruto-kun and his fox whiskers, he was so kawaii. She thought of the ramen he ate and smelled like and the bright orange he wore constantly, both so warm and welcoming.

"Zabuza-san, there were many questions I wanted to ask you, about my parents and myself, but I think, that with Naruto-sama as my master, I can finally give your memory up and live a happy life" Haku whispered, picking up another plate to dry.

Of course this happy train of thought, eventually led to the proverbial 'caboose of horror', the sweet fifteen year old girl, Naruto's somewhat annoying hanger-on. She would never admit outright jealousy, but she despised the girl all the same. How can she act so, so familiar with Naruto-sama! Just because they're childhood freinds doesn't mean she can spend every waking moment with my Naruto-sama!

Haku's frown deepened. She was Naruto-sama's loyal follower; it was her goal to make his dreams a reality. _So why does it feel so- so weird? _When she thought of Naruto and Tenten becoming closer, it brought a lump to her throat.

It wasn't quite jealousy, since she knew she had no romantic aspirations towards Naruto, no more than a dog had towards its master or a tool towards its wielder… it was more like fear, or loneliness. But why was that? Haku knew that Naruto would keep his promise to her. She knew that he would never abandon her, no matter what happened. So why did she feel an almost instinctive dislike towards Team Gai's kunoichi for just being close to him, for making her master truly happy?

A small part of her said she should be the one making her master happy, not some undeserving girl.

Not that Haku had entertained any romantic feelings towards her master, of course not, she was her master's sword and shadow, nothing more, but still... Naruto-sama was incrediably cute and no doubt would become very handsome as he matured, and if he ever wanted a lover, then...

As Haku thought this, her cheeks turned a gaudy shade of red matched only by the Hyuuga princess. The pale skinned, raven haired kunoichi scrubbed the dish faster and faster, the friction causing actual steam to rise from the ragged towel even as steam rose from her head, a trickle of blood coming down her delicate nose. Tasting an familiar copper-like substance, Haku snaped out of her rather perverted train of thought.

"What am I thinking!" she yelled, almost dropping the plate and the rag she held in her hands, then after a brief pause Haku inspected the dish,

"Ehh! Di-didn't these dis-hes have p-pa-atterns before?"

--

"Where am I?" Naruto asked, hoping to here Kyuubi's voice once again "What is this place? Its so cold..."

The harsh snowy mountains encompassing Naruto reach forever, there unwavering peaks blotting out the skyline. Suddenly, the mountains that had seemed so real seemed to pulsate, becoming out of focus and were replaced by a place now familiar to Naruto. Once again the dank sewer pipes and the two huge doors of the seal keeping the Kyuubi locked inside Naruto came into focus, however this too remained hazy. The two worlds seemed to faze in and out of focus, the effect was like Naruto watching a tv, but the station he watched was being interfered by another station. Between the two realities Naruto couldn't tell what was real and what was illusion.

From deep within the two collosal doors came a familiar growling noise.

"Kit, you came, I'm glad" said the Kyuubi.

"Kyuubi-rin, is that you? Whats going on?" Naruto asked.

"My time's up kit, this place inside your mind is disappearing, even now the seal is almost gone"

"What! You mean you're going to be free?" the jinchiruki exclaimed, struck dumb.

A wry smile graced the Kyuubi's lips or whatever he would have had there "In a sense kit, in a sense..."

"The truth is I wasn't lying earlier kit, this sword has a price and I'm it." the kyuubi continued "In order to gain, something must be lost, something valuable. The shinigami sparred your mate on my request and in exchange I became the fee. It was either the vixen or me kit, and I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have picked me over her. Besides, I know you hate me for making your life miserable."

"T-That can't be true. At first, when I learned that you were the reason why I was treated so badly, I... I think for awhile I did hate you. When we met face to face for the first time, I acted tough, to mask my anger and fear. But its different now, I know you, I couldn't possibly resent you for something like that."

"Heh heh, I know kit, but its better with me gone. We both know that my being here is putting a strain on your body, my demonic chakra is something no human could possibly control, its twisting your chakra pathways, messing with your chakra control, constantly straining your body. It might seem like I'm healing you when you're injured, but we both know the real effect its having on your body, its shortening your lifespan, at this rate, you'd be dead within a decade."

"No-I" Naruto stuttered

"And with me finally gone, the village will finally be able to start the long process of seeing you as the hero you and I both know you will be."

"I don't care about the villagers, Kyuubi-tan, you're my freind."

"Kit deep down, we both know this was the best option for us, for both of us", Kyuubi said as the sewer around the two began to crumble and collapse. Rock crumbled and pipes burst open, water pouring out. Then the foxs outline began to fade, and one of the Kyuubi's tails seemed to flare up, like a firework being shot off, disappearing into nothingness, only eight tails remaining.

"I'm glad I met you kit, I might have lived longer if not for that damn fourth, but I can tell you, the time we spent together, for the first time in a long long while, I was truly happy." Three tails had vanished from the Kyuubi and parts of foxes body seemed to be slowly disintegrating, turning into golden particles of light.

"I'm sorry Kyuubi, if only things had been different, if I had been stronger, things might not have turned out like this?"

"There are no random occurances in this life. If I've learned anything in my time here, its that. Your father sealing me into you was no random act. We were destined to meet, just as we are now destined to part. There's no point in thinking of what might have happened in any other situation, nothing could have been other than it is. There are no coincidences, there is only... Hitsuzen."

"Kit, I've watched you your entire life struggling, sometimes succeding, but failing more often than not, and I can tell you you're already strong, you don't need me."

"I know that now, thanks to Haku-chan, Tenten-chan, Iruka-sensei and especially you. Kyuubi-rin, my time with you in this sewer, I finally understood something. People like you, Oji-san, even Tenten-chan and Haku, despite massive reserves of chakra, or your unmatchable power, or amazing jutsu, or bloodlines, or mindbending jutsu skills, your greatest strength, its the kind on the inside"

"My my, you've grown up kid." the Kyuubi said with a kind of mock sarcasm, smiling.

"I don't want to be told that by a demon" Naruto shot back playfully.

Suddenly, only two tails remained, the rest vanished, the way of most of Kyubi's body.

"I guess our time's just about up, huh Kyuubi-tan?" Naruto asked.

"You'd be right about that kit"

"Will I ever see you again?"

"Heh heh..." the Kyuubi laughed, and suddenly another tail vanished, as if set on fire, in seconds becoming ash, leaving only the final one remaining.

Suddenly the fading fox's outline vanished altogether, and in its instead place... a beautiful petite woman of about twenty, with long flowing brown hair and deep red eyes (think Horo from Spice and Wolf). She was dressed in a short black kimono with a red obi that was made into a bow. On top of her head sat two adorable fox ears and from the back of her kimono protruded a single fox tail, the same golden wheat brown color as her hair.

As soon as Naruto had registered the beautiful woman, he noticed just how close the two of them now were. Smiling lustfully, the Kyuubi cupped Naruto's chin within her fingers, bringing Naruto's face closer to hers, her stare piercing the blond jinchiruki's.

"Think of it this way, only about ninety percent of me is gone from here kit, the other ten..." the Kyuubi's other hand slowly dropped from her side, coming to a rest on the fox jinchiruki's chest. Naruto could almost feel his heart beat against the Kyuubi's palm.

The Kyuubi did not let go, holding Naruto's head, the two lost in each other's eyes, Naruto's ocean blue and Kyuubi's bright fiery red. Slowly the former nine tailed fox's last tail vanished. Smiling in a cute but mysterious way, which would soon keep Naruto awake for nights on end, wondering what that smile meant, the Kyuubi waved one last goodbye as the last of her body became golden particles, that seemed to be a cross between golden dust and twinkling fireflies.

"Ja Ne, Naruto-kun..."

Naruto woke up, abruptly, feeling like he was missing something. Taking off his shirt, he channeled chakra, only to find no seal appearing on his navel. Realizing that Kyuubi, his most intimate freind in the world, the one who really understood him better than anyone else, the one he could talk too nomatter what, really was gone and despite his struggle to remain strong, Naruto cried.

"Naruto-sama?" Haku asked concern in her eyes, awake the moment the blond genin had cried out. He had been tossing and turning in his futon and she was worried that her master was having another nightmare, one of the many which plagued his dreams. In an instant, she had gotten out of her bed, quickly fixing her yukata, she was at her master's side. Hesitantly, she brought one hand to the blond genin's shoulder, as if she were unsure what to do.

Suddenly, much to the raven haired kunoichi's suprise, Naruto threw himself into Haku's arms, burying his head into her chest, sobbing gently.

"Shh" said Haku, her suprise disappearing, replaced with concern for her master's fragile mental state "Its going to be ok. Its going to be ok."

--

The next few days passed by one after another, as if in a daze, Naruto trained and completed missions, but without really taking anything in. Lost in thought the blond ninja not really paying attention to what he he was doing. At random times during missions, he would just space out, his lack of focus greatly annoying Sakura and the rest of his teammates, something not even Haku could snap him out of, Tenten being away on yet another mission. Everyday in his dreams Naruto heard that mysterious woman's voice in his dreams, calling his name.

Finally somehow Naruto found himself in his mind once again, the familiar sewer gone, replaced by the cold backdrop of snow covered peaks.

"I'm here again." Naruto said solemly, his eyes red from crying "I just wish I knew where here is."

**Naruto-kun, over here!** a voice said through the hailing snow, in the corner of Naruto's eye the blond ninja thought he saw a woman with long blonde hair.

"Wait!" Naruto yelled chasing after the ethereal figure.

Naruto rounded a bend in the mountain to find himself face to face with a very dangerous looking claymore, its tip at Naruto's neck. Slowly, Naruto inched away from the blade's point, his hands up in the air so as to not provoke the person holding the sword.

"Who are you?" the person asked, their face blocked by the outstretched blade's edge but the voice clearly betraying their feminity, "and what are you doing here?"

"I could be asking you the same thing, who are you and what are you doing in my head?" Naruto said, a little ticked off, chakra starting to leak out of him. Dropping a smoke bomb hidden in his sleeve, Naruto jumped backwards putting some distance between them. Then creating the cross shaped seal, created ten kage bunshin.

"This sensation... my yokai sensing ability is going off... I see then you must be..." the woman trailed off, pointing her sword at the Naruto in front of her.

For the first time Naruto was able to get a glance at the woman. She was had pale skin and platinum blonde hair matching two intelligent, stubborn silver eyes. She was dressed in a white form-fitting top that showed off a modest bust and flat stomach and matching white pants, which showed off her perfectly shaped thighs and legs. Over her top was two metal shoulderguards attached to a short white cape and a valkyrie-esque skirt made out of several peices of metal and while her left arm matched the rest of her uniform, the left was wrapped in a leather vambrace, as if whatever power beneath it needed to be contained. On her neck was a strange symbol, a straight line and a horizontal line with two diagonol lines attached to it. The woman seemed to perfectly match the snowy wasteland, beautiful but deadly. (If its hard to get a visual and If you want a better picture, look in my profile for a link or just read Claymore I guess)

"Well if you want a fight, come get it" he said ominously.

"Even if you're a girl!" Naruto continued, his clones dashing towards the blond haired woman, their fists reared behind them "Don't expect me to hold back"

The sword weilding woman dashed forward, instantly intercepting the clones and effortlessly dispatching them with her sword and sending the real Naruto sprawling into the dirt.

The woman pointed her sword's point at Naruto's neck.

"heh" Naruto said, as he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Suddenly from under the ground, Naruto exploded his fist just barely missing the woman's chin. Still rising in the air, Naruto hurtled half a dozen kunai towards the woman, who blocked them with her sword, the kunai being deflected by her lightning quick blade. Naruto smirked as the kunai exploded at the mystery woman's feet, having wrapped exploding tags around the handles.

"Did I get her?" Naruto asked, landing lightly on his feet as the smoke cleared.

Out of nowhere, the woman appeared behind Nartuo, slicing him clean in half with her sword. At least that's what she thought, until the blond ninja's severed body was replaced by a log, cut in two in his place. Over the sound of the wind, the woman's heightened senses could just barely make out a fizzing noise, like that of a paper being burnt to ashes. To her suprise, the wooden log suddenly exploded, the pale blond woman blocked just in the nick of time, absorbing the brunt of the explosion with her sword arm.

"Alright time for the finish!" yelled Naruto, who ran towards the woman with all the speed he could muster with his tree climbing skill

Catching himself on a rocky outpost by applying chakra to his feet, he pulled out a fuma shuriken and created another clone. _Alright then just like in the land of the waves, Tenten and my combination! _he thought, transforming into a second fuma. The clone stacked two shuriken on top of eachother and threw it towards the woman.

The woman deflected the two large shuriken one over the top of her head and the other deflecting straight into the ground. Suddenly the shuriken behind her transformed revealing Naruto, kunai tucked between each of his fingers. With deadly accuracy, the blond ninja threw the palmed weapons at the unsuspecting woman, who turned around and to Naruto's suprise, deflected each with her sword.

With suprising speed, the woman lunged towards the fox container, stabbing him through the stomach. Another puff of smoke revealed it to be another clone. The woman turned around again, to find the blond ninja had moved inside her guard, his fist moving straight for her stomach. Just as his fist was about to connect, the woman vanished.

Without any warning the woman appeared behind Naruto, her sword raised high over her head. Sensing the danger, Naruto dodged to one side in the nick of time, then turning aimed a punch at the woman's face. Ducking under the outstretched arm, the woman brought her sword up, trying to cut the arm off. Spinning, Naruto aimed a sweep kick at the woman's feet. The woman jumped and brought her Claymore down with devestating force against the two kunai Naruto used to block. Gritting her teeth, the woman applied more force, trying to win by brute strength and she was strong, much stronger than Naruto, his secondhand dull bladed kunai cracking under the pressure. Just as the kunai and Naruto's arms for that matter were about to give out, a small object about the size of a big marble rolled out from Naruto's sleeve.

The woman looked down, her eyes caught by the object. Suddenly, smoke began to hiss out of the tiny ball "Again, this is-"

"heh heh... ninja smokebomb!" Naruto yelled.

Distracted momentarily, the woman retreated from the cloud of dark smoke, the noxious gases filling her lungs.

Then from within the cloud, she heard" U!" and she felt the blond ninja kick her in the stomach, sending her into the air.

"Zu!"

"Ma!"

"Ki!" each clone said as they kicked the woman higher into the sky.

"**Rendan!(combo)** Naruto said as he jumped off the first clone's back, spinning to deliver a heel drop to the unsuspecting woman.

Just as Naruto was about to bring his heel down on the woman's abdomen, the blond jinchiruki noticed something, the woman's eyes had changed color from their normal silver to gold, the slits of her eyes oddly feral.

Naruto drove his leg down with all his might, only to find himself hit air. The woman easily reading his move and countering, sending him flying into the ground.

The other clones rushed at the woman, who dodged each attack as if she had the ability to predict their moves with the graceful elegance that came from true effortlessness, dispatching them each in a single strike.

All of the clones now gone, the woman turned to the real Naruto, her gold eyes still menacingly gold "You..."

Naruto could barely move, blood running down the side of his head from the impact of hitting the ground.

_This is the kinda times I wished I had Kyuubi back. _Naruto thought as his death rushed to meet him. Suddenly a glint in the corner of his vision caught Naruto's eye, the katana the Kyuubi had given him earlier _Why is it here?_ Narutou half thought as he grabbed it, meeting the woman's blade with his own, just barely making it in time. As the two swords touched, without warning the woman's Claymore exploded, breaking into a thousand fragments.

"W-What just happened, my Claymore, which has never even been scratched, was destroyed?" the woman asked, gazing at the empty broken hilt still in her hand in shock "I don't know why but for some reason... I feel I know you, so I must ask, who are you?"

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, this is my head, I'm here because I think the Kyuubi wanted me to be, are you my spirit? What's your name?" Naruto said, managing to stand up.

"What's my name?" the woman repeated again as if she hadn't even thought about it, then just as she said it, her head began to pound against the inside of her skull. The woman brought her hand up to cup her throbbing head, trying to think back.

"I... I don't remember my own name..." the woman realized, her face showing her obvious confusion.

"Who am I" she pondered, oddly managing to stay fairly calm. Images popped up in her mind off woman dressed like her and monsters, one in particular, a woman with long flowing blonde hair and a mysterious smile, but try as she might she couldn't match a name to the face.

"That woman... smiling, who is she? I don't remember, except bits and pieces" said the woman "what am I doing here?"

"Smiling, woman..." Naruto said, realization dawning on him "Those memories I saw, you're that girl from before!"

"Girl?" the woman asked, the uncertainty clear in her eyes.

"I forgot before, but now it all makes sense, why you're here in my mind." said Naruto "That sword and that symbol around you're neck, you've got to be the girl from my memories... and that means you're the spirit of my zanpakuto!"

"What are you talking about?" the woman asked, hesitent..

"The Kyuubi said to call out you're name when I found you." Naruto continued, caught up in his own excitement and newfound brain power, but suddenly he paused "But I don't know you're name, even in the memories, I don't remember, and the Kyuubi didn't tell me how to find out."

Naruto picked up his zanpakuto from near his feet where it had fallen before "Kyuubi-tan said this sword was a reflection of myself. So I must know it, you're name."

The blond jinchiruki stared at the sword in front of me, the silver metal so pure he could see himself in it. Carefully, he studied it, moving it so that the blade's tempering shown in the light, the reflection of the woman now cast on its blade. He felt the snow and wind pelting their bodies, taking in all of the bleak but beautiful world around him. Finally he looked at the woman now staring at him with peircing silver eyes.

"I know who you and you know me. According to the Kyuubi, we're closer than anyone else, opposite sides of the same coin. I don't know why we're here together, but it has to do with his sword." Naruto said offering the katana's hilt to the woman, "Here..."

Hesitent at first, the woman grabbed the sword's hilt, right above where Naruto's own hand grasped it. Seeing Naruto had closed his eyes, the woman too closed her eyes. Suddenly a jolt of what felt like lightning coursed through the two. Suddenly more of the woman's memories came back in flashes, memories of her parents and the yoma, and another one of the smiling woman, this time saluting.

Naruto smiled, mirroring the mysterious long haired woman's own countenance "I know you're name."

"Say it!... please" the woman in front of him asked sounding a little suprised, her hidden yearning breaking her cold exterior, despite her efforts to remain calm.

The wind blew in the fiercly in the clearing, ruffling Naruto's hair and the woman's white cloak "**Okiro(awaken)** **Clare**"

**-**

The next day, Naruto woke up, suprised to find the katana in his lap, Zabuza's sword gone from the place near his nightstand where he'd put it. For some reason, the blond ninja felt lighter, as if a weight had been taken from his shoulders. Just yesterday, Naruto's life was passing by without him noticing, in a daze without the Kyuubi, but for some reason after meeting Clare he seemed calmer, more level headed.

Changing into his usual ninjaware, Naruto grabbed the sword and walked into the kitchen to find Haku cooking breakfast for the two of them, a scene quite familiar to the blond genin by now. Nomatter how early he woke up, Naruto could never beat the raven haired kunoichi, he would always just find her in the kitchen making Naruto a healthy breakfast. It seemed during the time the two spent together, Zabuza had made Haku cook. Thanks to Haku, Naruto's diet was far healthier than before and the results had already shown, even only few months since she'd come to Konoha, the blond ninja had already grown more than an inch and a half and he was starting to fill out, becoming less scrawny than before, a change not lost upon either Haku nor Tenten.

"Naruto-sama, ohayo gozaimasu!" Haku said cheerfully, a cute patterned apron on top of her usual japanese style clothes.

"Haku look at this!" Naruto cried, showing the black haired kunoichi his new katana, Clare.

"Naruto-sama, where did you get that sword?" Haku asked politely.

"So thats how come Zabuza's sword looks like this." Naruto finished, after explaining the previous nights events in full.

"I see" said Haku somewhat lost "I don't really understand Naruto-sama, but I'm glad that Zabuza-san's gift was useful to you."

"Ya, don't worry Haku-chan, I'll master this blade, then I'll be able to protect all of you guys." Naruto said, giving the thumbs up "I'm going to go train a bit with Tenten before I meet my team alright Haku-chan?"

"Yes, please have a safe trip, Naruto-sama." the girl said, smiling brightly.

As the blond ninja left, Haku frowned, her eyes narrowing _That sword, its a zanpakuto I thought it was just a normal sword! Why didn't Zabuza-san tell me? He never released it, not once. Is this why he gave it to Naruto-kun? _

_Still I'm glad that Naruto-kun is better now, ever since the Kyuubi's been gone..._

--

Outside as Naruto walked to the usual training ground where he, Tenten, and Lee usually practiced when they weren't busy training as teams. It was a cool, shady clearing, next to a river, perfect for sparring as well as water walking.

_Clare, ano... can you hear me?_

Inside Naruto's mind, atop the destitute mountain plains of the North, Clare watched, seeing through the blond ninja's eyes, as if she were watching a projection. She was there, and yet not. It was one of the weirder sensations she could remember experiencing. To this instant, much of the Claymore's past was muddled, a hazy jumble of memories she could not sort out, only Naruto could do that it seemed. The moment she had come into contact with the blond ninja, certain events had come back to her, such as her name and her occupation, a slayer of demons, called yoma, 47th out of 47, the absolute weakest of all her comrades, but strange as it was, she couldn't remember any of them, their faces, their names, nothing. It was something she knew she should know, which irked her more because she knew that she didn't know it.

_Clare?_ asked Naruto, interuppting the Claymore from her musing.

_Thats right_ she thouhgt _I can speak with Naruto directly through our bond even when he's not dreaming..._

"What is it?" she asked.

_I-er... that is... Will you train me? _

Clare was a bit suprised though a small part of her had already realised this. It was understandable, without her help, the bumbling blond ninja would never be able to truely master her sword. And, that same part told her, to train Naruto, to guide him was the reason she was here.

"I will." the woman stated, a fact, taking no pleasure from it. Clare was stoic as usual.

_Yosh! When do we start? _he asked.

"Right now" she said, drawing her sword.

--

"Take that!" Naruto yelled, bringing his sword down for the hundreth time. The orange ninja had been practicing his basic swinging and stances since dawn, a time where normally only Gai and Lee were still training. Since he had met Clare, she'd been teaching him how to use the sword, by showing him proper technique in his mind while he was asleep. The woman had been reluctant at first, not quite sure how to train another person, especially a beginner like Naruto, but with a few tips from Tenten, Clare's teaching soon became something of a routine. He had both watched and sparred Clare countless times, who drilled the experience, each swing and parry into him, until his body remembered it without thinking. The woman's skill with a sword was incrediable, making Naruto appreciate her as a person even more. Everything he learned at night he then practiced on his own in the real world, even still, at first progress was painfully slow. However as a month, then another rolled by, soon Naruto seemed to be getting the hang of his newfound kenjutsu skills, while there was no chance of beating a master like Tenten, he was at least starting to be able to use it in real combat.

During these few weeks, Naruto hid Clare in a summoning scroll he had learned how to use from Tenten, to keep it secret from his teammates. Though he hated hiding things, the akward questions and looks alone would be sufficent enough to drive their teamwork even farther down the toilet.

--

Naruto was practicing with his sword against Tenten. Actually, a more accurate way of putting it was, Naruto was putting up a losing fight, while the bunhaired girl devestated his male pride by deflecting each one of his attacks with her bad hand and knocking his sword out of his hands every five seconds or so.

"Are you sure you don't want me to go easier on you?" Tenten asked.

Naruto picked up his sword from the ground once again, panting "No, an enemy won't go easy on me just because I'm not that good at kenjutsu, after all before I got this sword, I was more of a brawler anyway, thats why I need all the practice I can get."

The bunhaired girl deflected a clumsy attack from Naruto with one arm. Their swords ringing from the impact. Casually, Tenten reached in with her sword, a battered katana, and with a flick of her wrist the blade seemed to snake like an eel around Clare, knocking the sword from his grasp for what seemed the hundreth time today. She followed up with a sweep kick, knocking the orange ninja to his feet. Panting slightly, she brought her sword to Naruto's throat, ending the round.

"Thats amazing Tenten-chan, how did you do that?" Naruto asked as he got up, his arm still shaking from the clanging of the swords.

"Its nothing really, I've been practicing Kenjutsu for awhile now, its only natural I win while you're still learning." Tenten said cheerfully, as she sheathed her sword, "with enough practice you might even beat me one of these days."

The bunhaired kunoichi was suprised her arms were numb and her fingers were blistered, though Naruto didn't have the training, his large stamina reserves and his creative mind were slowly wearing her down.

"You ready to get some lunch Tenten-chan?" asked Naruto, snapping the bunhaired kunoichi out of her thoughts.

"Definatly" Tenten started when Naruto suddenly remembered something

"Oh man I forgot! Dammit I've got to meet my team! Sorry Tenten" Naurto said in a hurry, the blond ninja running towards the bridge.

Tenten held her hand to her face, shaking her head "Naruto, you'll never learn."

--

"Alright, you three. I've decided to register you all in the chunin exams. Attendance is mandatory, fill out these forms and report to room 301 in one month. Thats all, goodbye Sakura, Naruto. Sasuke, come with me, we're going to train." Kakashi said nonchalantally.

"But why can't we all train together, me and Sakura-chan need to get stronger too, especially if we are competing as a team." Naruto shouted, outraged.

"Let it go Naruto. Its not worth getting into trouble." Sakura advised the blond ninja.

"No, this isn't fair to us Kakashi-sensei and you know it! Come on, get your head out of your ass for once and stop favoring Sasuke!"

Kakashi gave the boy a cold glare "In the real world, those with no talent often bark the loudest. We'll ignore that last comment and do as I say. Understood?"

"Kakashi-sensei, Naruto, everybody stop fighting" Sakura begged.

The silver haired jonin stared at the orange book in his hand, as if trying to decide whether it was worth the trouble. Exhaling heavily, his masked face unreadable, Kakashi sighed "Sasuke, we're leaving" and the copy ninja vanished.

Sasuke nodded, still scowling and he too vanished.

Annoyed, Naruto gritted his teeth "Grrr, why does Sasuke get to be trained by Kakashi-sensei!"

"Because baka! Sasuke gets trained by Kakashi-sensei because he's the coolest and you're the dead last!" said Sakura, but inside her heart told her that she was the weak link of the team. Sakura thought about how strong Naruto had become since the land of the waves, creating a pit of remorse in her stomach. Uneasy dealing with such a strange feeling, Sakura decided to bash Naruto in the head for being such a baka.

The pink haired girl moved to punch him only to have her arm caught in a vicelike grip. She pulled back involuntarily only to find she couldn't move her arm an inch. The hand clutching hers was as unrelenting as steel and about as cold.

"Shall I break her arm, Naruto-sama?" Haku said cooly appearing from the shadows, her everpresent smile gone.

"No, Haku-chan, its alright really. We were just leaving..." Naruto waved his arms in front of his face, laughing nerviously he removed Haku's hand from the pink haired kunoichi's forearm.

"Na-ru-to-sa-ma! That makes me sick, only a bitch would be following that baka!" Sakura spat as she pulled away, her words like venom.

Suddenly, she found herself on the business end of a very sharp looking katana.

"Sakura, don't talk like that about Haku-chan. I don't care if you insult me, but leave my precious ones alone..." Naruto said calmly and left, taking Haku with him, and leaving Sakura standing there, all alone.

"What happened to you guys, Sasuke-kun, Naruto no baka, even Kakashi-sensei. Naruto, he-he called me Sakura." Sakura asked dullely, tears starting in her eyes.

No more than a block away Naruto rounded a corner walking as fast as he could, frustrated at his sensei and his team, not looking he bumped into a ninja around two years older than him wearing a black suit with cat ears and purple face paint. A frustrated young woman with sandy blonde hair stood impatiently next to him.

"Gomen, I wasn't look-" Naruto started to say.

"Watch it brat!" Kankoru sneered, he reached forward to pick up Naruto when he found the cat ears on his costume cut off.

"Whoa, I didn't even see him move. Think you're pretty strong eh squirt, try this for size." The sand genin started to unwrap the strange weapon on his back when...

"Kankoru, you are a disgrace to our entire village." A red haired suna ninja appeared upside down on a tree branch above the three, his voice leeking killer intent "stop or I'll kill you!"

Kankoru and Temari visably shivered, "You're right Gaara, we were out of line. I'm sorry."

Gaara disappeared and reappeared in a swirl of sand in front of Naruto.

Haku appeared between Naruto and Gaara, her long hair blowing in the wind.

"What is your business here? From the forhead protectors you wear, you are of the land hidden in the sand..." The girl said, pulling senbon out from within her long sleeves. As she stared down the tanuki eyed genin, Haku swallowed involuntarily, sensing the danger,_ His stealth skills may have contested with Zabuza-sama's in his prime. If he attacks, I don't think I'll be able to protect Naruto-sama._

"Even though we arrived a little early,We came here for the chunin exams being held in Konoha. It will be starting in a month." Temari explained, "Weren't you informed?"

"Ya, actually I just heard about it, that sounds cool, if you guys are competing it looks like it could really be fun" Naruto said, overjoyed for a challange.

"Sumimasen(excuse me), may I know your name?" Haku asked, dismissing her masters immature remarks.

"I am Sabaku no Gaara or Gaara of the dessert." the red head ninja said "And you two are?"

Naruto eager to introduce himself leaped to his feat "I am Uzumaki Naruto and this is-."

"Naruto-sama's loyal retainer, Momochi Mizukage Haku" the girl finished, her eyes never leaving the insomniac's face.

"Souka, I hope to face both of you in the future. Temari, Kankoru, we're leaving." The red haired ninja left followed by his starteled teammates.

When they were once again alone Haku asked "Naruto-sama, the chunin exams I've heard about them from Zabuza-san..."

"Its going to be in about a month. Tenten's team and my team are competing to become chunin, one step closer to Hokage." Naruto explained.

Haku looked down, her eyes downcast, her hands balled up into fists hidden in the long wide sleeves of her kimono "Naruto-sama, they will be dangerous."

"I know" Naruto replied "but, I can't help it."

"Naruto-sama, you could lose your life." Haku said "and I can't protect you."

"I know but its something I've got to do."

"I understand, Naruto-sama." Haku said, "thats why, in the month remaining I will do my best to train you, that is if you wish."

Naruto smiled seeing the sincerity of Haku's voice, "Thank you Haku-chan."

-- one month later--

A month had passed, during which Naruto had trained tirelessly in his Kenjustu under Clare as his instructor. During this time, he mostly kept quiet about his new abilities so he could savor the look on the faces of those who underestimated him. And the former fox container was progressing quite well, actually mastering the basics of Clare's sword style, which while emphasizing agility and speed in harmony with decapitating strikes, did not have any one form or stance, unlike a traditional martial arts style, like Tenten's traditional kenjutsu or even the Hyuuga's jyuuken . As Clare put it, her style included 'whatever it took to win.'

Realizing that he couldn't have possibly contested against a monster like Gaara if not for Haku's intermission and that in order to acheive his dream of hokage status he would have to become stronger , Naruto redoubled his efforts, sparring with Tenten, Lee, and Haku whenever they weren't busy. Haku taught Naruto footwork and chakra manipulation, and Lee competed with Naruto in all sorts of ridiculous contests, almost all of which Lee won due to his intensive training, while Tenten provided Naruto something even more important, a kenjutsu sparring partner. After all, you could only learn so much training against invisible opponents and Clare could only train Naruto in his mind, in order to benefit, he had to train on the physical plane as well.

Naruto counted the days till finally the day of the exam arrived.

(Basically, the same as the manga, if you know whats happening for the first exam just skip this part.)

The chunin exam begins. The first test is a paper test designed to test a shinobi's espionage skill. The proctor Morino Ibiki is a sadistic special jonin that used mind games to get teams to flunk. Paper tests, being Naruto's worst enemy, he freaks out. Opting not to cheat off of Hinata, lest she get in trouble because of him, Naruto sweated it out

At the end of the time alloted each team not thrown out is then subjected to the tenth question. If they pass then they move on, if they fail then they can never retake the exams ever again. The pressure being too much, some teams quit. Just as Sakura is about to raise her hand to give up...

Naruto raises his hand and slams it down onto his desk "Never underestimate a world class ninja like me! I don't quit and I don't run! I'm not afraid of you, I'll become Hokage even by pure stuborness, I don't care! I'm not afraid of anything! Dattebayo!"

Their fears quelled by Naruto's outburst the other shinobi teams become reassured and no one else quits. Ibiki explains the hidden meaning behind the test and the tenth question, being a trick to test the bravery of each shinobi against seemingly insurmountable odds.

Just as everyone's fears are relieved, a female shinobi with purple hair, wearing a trenchcoat and fishnet crashed through a window. That person being Anko, vaguely similar to Naruto in terms of flashy entrances, leads each of the teams to the forest of death...

--

So how'd you like it? I tried not to rush into Clare's meeting with Naruto and the introduction, but I still wasnt quite satisfied with the results so this is one of the chapters with the biggest changes to it, though I was worried that I tried to do too much in a single chapter. Also, since spirits are not really explained in depth in bleach, I took the artistic license that they are like a hero of the world, from fate stay night, taken from somewhere in the world at their deaths. This means that Clare has a past, though it will not really effect the storyline and this story is still not a major crossover. Clare is probably the only character outside the Naruto universe appearing and I tried to chose someone who could identify with Naruto, so this is not a crossover.

As for the first exam thing, man is it long. I was partway into writing the first exam when I realized the huge amount of time this would take. So I decided to just skip most of it, because its basically the same as the manga. I figured I'd save you guys some reading and some me some typing as this document is already almost double the usual chapter size.

Please submit Ocs, shikai, bankai, etc... your contributions and input no matter how insignificant, really help me.

Anyways, read and review. Tell me what you think, it doesn't have to be long and inputs and comments are appreciated, they all help me write better or at least faster.

To be continued.

Next chapter: The second exam, the forest of death, and the unvealing of Naruto's shikai!


	9. Alone

Naruto was dressed in a yukata and baggy pants that was a combination of several different shades of blue on a rock of the coast of the beach. As the waves crashed rythmically against the rock and his body, he sat down crosslegged with his Zanpakuto in his lap and began to meditate like Clare had taught him, synchronizing his breathing with Clare's. Using his willpower, Naruto attempted to force everything from his mind in order to acheive bankai.

The three man team of Haku, Tenten, and Naruto was on a mission to the deliver some documents into the land of waves, while on the way there they had found the desserted beach and decide to take a break for the day.

"Oh the wind's so strong here, Haku-chan!" Tenten said, wearing a more conservative two peice pale pink bathing suit, frolicking in the water.

"I know! This beach is great!" Haku said, sporting a cute blue two piece with ribbons for decoration, hitting the bunhaired kunoichi with a huge wave of water.

Tenten stood up again and yelled at Haku "Hey, using your nature manipulation is cheating!"

Haku stuck her toungue out, "You snooze you lose!" and threw another slightly smaller wave of water at the bunhaired kunoichi.

Naruto peeked with one eye to see a scantially clad Tenten and an equally scantally clad Haku splashing each other with water and giggling.

"Meditation... not going so well, can't focus on bankai... Hot girls..." Naruto said to himself, His eyes bulging Naruto leapt up to his feet, screaming a war cry Rargh!!"

He swung his sword around wildly, trying to clear his head from perverted thoughts "I don't see anything!"

"I don't hear anything!"

Naruto spun his sword around his finger like a helicopter blade "The way of the sword is my only path!"

"Oh no, my bikini string!" Tenten said, clutching her top, which had come undone in all the frolicking and was precariously close to revealing her ample cleavage

Reacting to the sound, Naruto instinctvely looked in the direction of Tenten's voice and froze. The genin stood still there for a second. Then his mind processed what he had just watched and the fox container's face turned red and a river of blood erupted from his nose.

Falling backward from the massive blood flow Naruto was washed off his rock by a large wave.

Naruto surfaced slowly, floating on his back, his arms spread at his side. The ninja sighed, "ah, the springtime of youth..."

--

**Author's Note: **Alright! I'm done with the next chapter of Descending Heaven. I was off so I tried to put some good time into this chapter, I hope you like it. I also want to say thanks for everyone who reviewed.

To be honest with you guys sometimes I get really envious of stories that have like 600 reviews with less chapters than me, but then I take a look at the first page or two of their reviews and they're all like "great story, update!" Most of my reviews are way better than that, so I'm once again happy thanks all you dedicated readers and reviewers out there. This chapter is for you guys.

Also a person asked me if this was going to be a harem story and I have to say most definately not. This story is going to focus mainly on NaruxTen with a little bit of femHakuxNaruto in there. Sorry to anyone who's disappointed.

Oh and if anyone would like to beta my story pm or contact me. You'd have to be pretty good with grammer and that kind of junk and be able to give me tips, stuff like that. If you think you're up to it contact me in my profile or something, thanks.

**Summary:**Naruto met Clare, a blond haired silver eyed warrior, his Zanpakuto's spirit in the last chapter. The two learned more about each other and Clare taught Naruto the basics of her sword style. A month later, Naruto and Haku faced off against Kakashi, ending in Naruto narrowly avoiding another chidori to the chest. Resolving to become stronger to protect his precious people once again, Naruto heads off for more intensive training. A month passes and the chunin exam starts. Using his guts alone, Naruto manages to sweat the test out and give the other teams the courage to pass. Just as our young ninjas thought that they could take a breath, the second examiner, Mitarishi Anko appears.

--

"The second exam will start now. Everybody who's prepared to die follow me!" The second chunin examiner, Mitarishi Anko said.

Naruto thought _Whoa she kinda reminds me of..._

_Wow she reminds me of Naruto's flashy entrances..._ Tenten thought to herself.

"No way, we're totally different!" Naruto yelled mentally, then to himself, "On the other hand she does have style...'

--forest of death--

"This will be a team survival mission. You will each be given either a heaven or an earth scroll. The objective is to get one of each scroll and reach the center tower of the forest. You can't leave the forest and you can't look inside the scrolls, consider it a test of your trustworthiness. There is also a time limit of five days. Everyone should fill out these forms, we wouldn't want to be held responsible for your deaths would we?" The purple haired proctor said sweetly.

"You don't scare me lady! My name is Uzumaki Naruto, a ninja legend, the next hokage of the hidden leaf and none of you are going to beat me ahahahahahah!" Naruto said, laughing completely overconfident, then to himself "Man that felt good!" completely ignoring the killer intent all the other teams gave off.

Sasuke scoffed in disagreement "Hopeless..."

Sakura gave Naruto a bruise the size of an orange on his head and apologized "I'm sorry, my teammate is a special ed ninja heh heh..."

"Urusai!(shut up) what do you guys know anyway. Me and Tenten-chan are going straight to the top, right Tenten-chan?" Naruto said, giving the nice guy pose.

"Right!" Tenten said, giving the nice guy pose also.

"That pose... Gai-sensei, forgive me! Youuthh!" Lee ran towards the two ninja and gave his best thumbs up, nice guy pose, thus completing the strongest pentagon of youth, stunning all the other genin with their youthful radiance and sparkling white teeth.

"You won't psyche us out lady!" Naruto said after the glare had faded, pointing.

"Oh you're pretty cocky huh?" Anko said again, with her creepy I'm-going-to-kill-you smile.

The tokubetsu jonin pulled out of her sleeve a kunai and threw it at Naruto.

Naruto's eyes widened and the kunai just grazed his left cheek.

Anko appeared behind him and glomped him, mashing her chest against Naruto's back and licking off the blood from his cut "The one's like you are always the first to go, spilling all that delicious, red blood everywhere."

"Touch Naruto-kun like that again and I'll kick the crap out of you!" Tenten said, forcing herself between the two.

"Don't stand there radiating bloodlust, unless you want to die..." Anko said, giving her creepy smile again.

When the younger girl did not move, the snake tokubetsu jonin reluctantly got off of the orange genin "Fine fine... I was just having a little fun..."

Anko stepped away and directed the crowd to the station where they would get their scroll.

When they were more or less alone again, Naruto shuddered "Man that lady was creepy"

"Yah..." Tenten said soberly, worried for her teammates and Naruto.

Naruto and Tenten stood side-by-side looking at the forest of death in all of its terrible beauty.

"Oi, Naruto no baka, hurry your ass up! Sasuke-kun and I are waiting" Sakura yelled from gate 27.

"Tenten, over here! Its me, Lee, ooh and Neji is here too! We are waiting here for you to start this youthful test of our abilities!" Rock Lee called from the oppisite direction over by gate 41.

"Well, I guess we should get going then" Naruto said, his eyes on suddenly finding the rock near his feet very interesting.

"Yah..." Tenten said, looking down too, "Well goodbye then Naruto-kun..."

The girl turned to leave, heading to join the rest of her team.

"Tenten-chan!" Naruto called.

"Yes Naruto-kun?" the girl asked.

"Let's meet on the other side in five days time, promise?" the blond shinobi said, his face serious.

"Right its a promise. I'll be waiting for you on the other side." Tenten turned away once again, her eyes downcast "A promise..."

The rookie nine plus Gai's team all got into their starting positions. On the other side, the sand siblings and the creepy grass nin did the same. One by one the teams gathered their members, received their scrolls, and headed to their starting gates.

Anko watched as each of the team's found their gates, "I have one peice of advice for all of you! Don't die!"

"All right let's go, -tebayo!" Naruto said, full of condidence.

"Part two of the chunin selection exams begins now!" Anko yelled through through her microphone.

Each of the teams lept into the forest of death, signaling the start of the countdown.

--

Narto lept from tree branch to tree branch with pinky and teme following until they found a good clearing.

"Did you just here somone scream?" Sakura asked in a timid voice, " Oh man this place is giving me the creeps..."

"Cut it out. We have enough to worry about as it is..." Sasuke said, sticking the scroll into the relative saftey of his ninja tool pouch

"I have to take a leek, I'll be right back." Naruto said and vanished behind the bushes.

"Oh man what a relief I'm feeling better now!" Naruto said, emerging from the bushes with a smile of releif on his face.

"Don't be so vulgar I'm a la-" Sakura began when Sasuke gave Naruto a chop to the head, knocking the orange ninja off his feet.

"Where's the real Naruto? You're wearing your shuriken holster backwards and you don't have the scar that Naruto just got" Sasuke asked stepping into his fighiting stance.

"Heh heh, you're pretty good to notice that, I guess I'll just take the scroll by force" the Naruto imposter said, revealing himself to be a rain ninja.

The rain ninja rushed towards Sasuke and the two began to exchange blows.

--skip fight--

"That was close. We better have a password so that we can tell if we're really who we say we are..." Sasuke read a long poem, "Thats our password the ninki, memorize it"

"How am I supposed to memorize that whole thing how about, swordfish or maybe ramen?" Naruto asked, scratching his head.

**"Fuuton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)!" **A huge gust of wind swept through the clearing, scattering dust and debris everywhere.

In the confusion Sasuke asked Sakura "What's the password?"

Sakura repeated the ninki perfectly, down to the last period.

"Naruto now you too "

Naruto repeated the poem perfectly and Sasuke smirked "You can't be the real Naruto, he's an idiot."

"I see well, then their's no point in hiding anymore" the second Naruto imposter said, revealing a tall kusanin, who beared a strong resemblance to a snake.

"I see, this will be more fun than I thought." The pale, dark haired ninja said.

--

"Where did Sakura and that Sasuke-teme go?" Naruto asked, "What's that, Yahhhh, its a huge..."

A huge slithering snake a story tall and twice as long bared its venemous fangs at Naruto.

"What's with this forest!" suddenly Naruto found himself wrapped in the anocanda-like vicegrip of the snake's tail. The gigantic snake opened its mouth even wider, swallowing the orange ninja whole.

"He swallowed me. What the hell!"

--

The tall black haired kusanin smiled maniacally and pulled his skin down from his eye, radiating bloodlust "We'll fight to the death!"

Sakura and Sasuke froze from the sheer killer intent the elder ninja was showing, "I can't move... Sasuke-kun, we're really going to die here!" the pink haired shinobi said, her voice a whisper.

_I'm not done yet, I can still move, just enough _Sasuke stabbed himself in the leg, took Sakura and ran.

Just as the snake man was about to take a huge bite our of the last Uchiha, a hail of shuriken blocked the snake's path, forcing him to evade.

"Swordfish!" a smiling Naruto said, holding his katana in his right hand.

"Congratulations in chopping my snake to peices, Naruto-kun, what impressive swordsmenship... I am the great snake sannin Orochimaru!" the snake-nin said, creepily.

"The only thing I can think of is to run away. Dammit" Sasuke threw his heaven scroll towards Orochimaru, "Here take it..."

Naruto intercepted it and punched the coward, sending him flying "Sasuke-teme, forget it, I'm holding onto the scroll. Even if we did give it to him, their's no guarentee he'd let us live!"

"You're right Naruto-kun, so why don't I just kill you all right now!" Orochimaru pulled up his sleeve revealing a summoning tatoo. A feirce wind surrounded Orochimaru, reaveling an even larger snake.

"Urusai(Shut Up)!" Naruto ran at the gay sannin, his sword at the ready.

The former fox container smashed the snake's massive maw to the forest floor with the hilt of the sword. Naruto fell lightly on the forest floor, his landing not even making a noise.

"Where did Naruto get that kind of power?" Sakura asked, bewhildered by Naruto's newfound strength.

Suddenly the huge snake reared itself up again and lunged itself at Naruto, ready to swallow him whole.

Orochimaru's eyes widened considerably "That boy, I can't sense the Kyuubi in him, but what is this other power I sense? It must be that sword producing the energy, and he's channel a huge amount of it into his right arm. To be able to control such demonic chakra to that extent, truly marvelous..."

Naruto grinned grimmly, the grin of a person who's out of his league and knows it, and as the snake came closer, time seemed to slow. The blond genin didn't seem to move his sword more than once, but hundreds of cuts erupted across the snake's bus-sized head. The snake vanished in a huge puff of smoke.

"Man that takes a lot out of me" Naruto smiled obviously exausted, "you alright you big chicken?"

Sasuke's eyes widened, just as amazed as the other two ninja standing there at Naruto.

Like a flash Naruto turned around, and blocked a kunai thrown by Orochimaru.

"You where did you get that sword?" Orochimaru asked, amused

The snake sannin smirked and opened his mouth wide, out of it flew another smaller snake and out of its mouth came his Kusangi, the fabled grass cutter sword.

_We're going to be killed!_ _I don't want to die! _Sasuke thought, quivering in fear at the thought of his death _I've got to escape, I can't die yet!_

Sasuke grabbed Sakura and channled chakra into his legs, running as far and as fast as possible away from the snake sannin.

"Sasuke-kun, Naruto he's still back there!" Sakura said, scared out of her wits.

"Leave him! He decided to stay and fight. He sacrificed himself so that we could live. Dont't you understand?" Sasuke said, his bangs covering his eyes.

"Sasuke-kun, you, you coward. How could you... Even if Naruto is a dork and an idiot, at least he's not a coward..." Sakura said, tears beggining to run down her face.

Sasuke grabbed the pink haired genin by the shoulders, meeting her eyes for the first time since Orochimaru's arrival.

The fangirl was deeply shocked by what she saw in his coal black Uchiha eyes, fear, deep animalistic fear. It shook Sakura down to her soul, and suddenly she began to, for the first time, doubt her feelings of love and even trust for her Sasuke

"I couldn't do a thing, don't you understand? I had no chance of ever even coming close to beating him. We're like ants to him, so utterly insignificant we don't even register in his vision." Sasuke said in hysterics.

In his mind, the Uchiha avenger could only hear the words Itachi had said before departing "Baby brother, you're so pathetic. You could never kill me, never in a million years, settle for hating me. Hate me and live like a coward, clinging to life without honor..."

"Sasuke-kun, who are you talking about? Orochimaru... or your brother?" Sakura asked worried.

The black haired Uchiha froze, his eyes widening. He let go of Sakura's shoulders and hung his head again, "I don't know..."

--

Faster than even Kakashi, Orochimaru flew at Naruto, unleashing a flurry of attacks. The clumsy orange ninja barely brought his sword up in time to intercept the Kusangi. Orochimaru followed with another strike and another, rattling Naruto's teeth from the clash of cold steel against steel.

_Dammit he's just playing with me!_ Naruto thought as he slashed wildly at Orochimaru. The snake sannin evaded the blade easily and lept a distance away from Naruto, sticking his sword back into his mouth.

"Hmm... It seems you're fairing quite well for one so young, but its ten years too soon to be challenging the likes of me," Orochimaru said as he knocked Clare from Naruto's hands using his freaky snakelike tongue "But right now, you're more trouble than you're worth! "

Orochimaru's muscular tongue wrapped around Naruto, binding his arms to his sides, as he drove his fist deep into the blond ninja's gut, causing the blond ninja to cough up blood. Naruto could only moan as he lost conciousness.

--

"Sasuke-kun, please Naruto's our teammate we can't leave him..." Sakura begged.

"No, I can't go back there. I can't die yet!" Sasuke said.

"Oh, but why Sasuke-kun? When we could have so much fun together?" a certain snakelike pedophile emerged from the ground in front the two genin, laughing sadistically.

_We're paralyzed again! _Sakura thought.

"If you want power, the power to obliderate Itachi, Naruto and anyone else in your way of your destiny, then betray your freinds and join me!" Orochimaru said, making hand seals.

"What are you talking about we never want to see you again!" Sakura screamed at the snake sannin.

"well, perhaps, but wishing won't make me go away, heh heh, remember me Orochimaru, the snake sannin... " Orochimaru's neck hyperextended and the pedophile bit Sasuke's neck, leaving the cursed seal mark.

"Rest assured you will come to me for power Sasuke... and then your eyes and your body will be mine..." Orochimaru said, once again melting away into the ground.

--

_They left me... _Naruto thought as he regained conciousness, his whole body still aching from the beating Orochimaru had given him.

_My teammates left me to die fighting against that pedophile, honestly that could have ended worse..._

_but man, some friends they turned out to be..._

**Awaken Naruto, this is no time to sleep... **Clare said from the dark recesses of Naruto's mind.

_What's the point? I've just been abandoned by my teammates and left to die... There's no point anymore..._

**Dammit, Naruto, get up now! Can't you sense what's going on? She's fighting by herself right now and she can't win.**

Naruto grunted, too stupified to care.

Clare crossed her arms, resigned to her fate **Well, I can't do anything, I just thought you cared about your Nakama, like they cared for you? **

**I don't remember much about my past, but I know that if I had comrades, I would protect them with all my strength.**

_Yah, you're right Clare-chan, (sniffle) I'm away from Tenten-chan and the others for an hour and I'm already feeling angsty. I've got to spend less time with the teme, that fucking emo attitude is getting to me._

Naruto jumped from treebranch to treebranch all the while coming closer to Tenten's chakra signitature. Suddenly Naruto felt a monsterous amount of killing intent and heard three screams near him_ What is that?_

The platinum blond haired warrior's eyes flashed an eerie gold, her pupils becoming slits **I'm not sure at this distance, but I can sense that person is strong, so stay alert.**

"Right" Naruto said, mostly to himself as he lept from tree branch to tree branch as silently as the clumsy ninja possibly could.

"You! Uzumaki Naruto..." a psychotic voice called out.

Naruto's eyes widened just barely blocking a barrage of sand shurikens with his katana, receiving several minor cuts.

"We've met before havn't we? So why are you still alive?" a bloodthirsty Gaara said, an umbrella dripping in blood in his hand. His two siblings stood slightly seperate from their deranged brother, looks of disgust and fear on their face. Massive amounts of blood stained the forest floor red, where the three sand siblings were standing. The remains of a genin team lay in one corner.

"Gaara, we can head straight for the tower we got the scroll we needed their's no need to-" Kankoru began.

"No, not yet. I still havn't spilled enough blood." the red headed container said, pulling sand from his goard on his back " you two don't get in my way!"

"Gaara, dammit, listen to your older brother. Stop this we don't need to pick a fight." Kankoru said, placing his hand on Gaara's shoulder.

The psychotic red head slapped away his brother's arm away "I've never thought of you as my siblings, cross me and I'll kill you"

"Take it easy there Gaara, havn't I always been like a sister to you?" Temari begged, panicking.

"Blood, spill your delicious red blood" Gaara screamed madly, clutching his tatoo.

The sand genin raised one arm and made a lifting motion, in a sinister voice, he yelled "**Sabaku no jutsu(Sand waterfall technique)!**"

A massive wave of sand formed and rushed towards the blond haired fox container **"Suna Shuriken(Sand Shuriken)!"**

"I'm not really in the mood right now Gaara..." Naruto said, hefting his sword.

The proectiles flew forward at a tremendous speed, just barely grazing or missing the fox container.

Naruto stood unflinched by Gaara's display. He walked forward slowly, not attempting to dodge the shuriken "You know, I didn't want to use this yet, "

A sand shuriken whizzed by the side of Naruto's head, his headband falling to floor, the cloth cut by the razor sharp projectile. He smiled somewhat brashly, his blond locks covering his eyes "I wanted Tenten-chan and Haku-chan to be the first ones to see this."

"But we can't have everything we want, I guess." Naruto said, holding his Zanpakuto in front of him, its point towards Gaara.

"Well... You won't tell anyone, right?" Naruto asked, giving his best fox grin.

Gaara ignored the orange ninja's comments, too caught up in his bloodlust to care " Die!"

Naruto's cerulean blue eyes turned gold and slitted "**Okiro(awaken) Clare!**"

--

**New Justu Section( I've been neglecting this part recently, but I recently read a fic and realized how much I hate when they don't describe or translate jutsu so here it is)**

**Fuuton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough) –**C-Rank – A simple Fuuton jutsu, it sends out a powerful explosion of moving air that can level anything in its path with the right amount of chakra. By any means a simple jutsu and easy to withstand with a simple defensive jutsu, this jutsu is best used in an ambush situation to catch the enemy off guard and keep them that way, as shown by Orochimaru's use of it during the Chuunin Exams to separate and distract the members of Team 7.

**Suna Shuriken(sand Shuriken)-**C-Rank- A sand jutsu usable only by Gaara. Basically, he compacts the sand into a crude shuriken shape and flings them towards his enemy at high speeds using chakra. This is one of Gaara's faster sand jutsu, being that it sacrifices power and accuracy for speed. This requires a large amount of shuriken to make up for the lack of accuracy, making this move less effective than it would be otherwise.

**Sabaku no jutsu(Sand waterfall technique)-**B-Rank-Another jutsu used only by Gaara. He gathers a large amount of sand and then hurles it towards his opponent in a wave form about 10 feet high. This is a rather timeconsuming jutsu but covers a wide area. This jutsu is a pun(bad pun) on Sabaku no Gaara. Sabaku can either translate to sand waterfall or dessert, but being that it is normally used as dessert, most people wouldn't know that.

--Character Profile--

I realise not everyone has read Claymore, so I'm writing this small profile to give people more understanding of Naruto's spirit, Clare.

Clare:Young woman from another world. Her parents were killed and eaten by a monster as a young girl. From then on she was used by the monster as part of a ruse to make them seem like a brother and sister traveling together, which drew away suspicion from the monster. Traumitized by these events as a young girl, she lost her voice, living in fear, until she was saved by a smiling Claymore, who though reluctant at first, eventually took Clare under her wing as a daughter/pet. However their lives together were cut short by a monster and Clare vowed revenge, taking the flesh of the woman into herself, and becoming the weakest of all the Claymores, the half yoma half human, woman warriors, number 47.

More of Clare's past will be revealed as the story goes along, as I've said earlier, it won't bear any significant impact on the plot, but if you do undersand it, I think it will increase the pleasure you get from reading this story, kinda like when you watch a parody and understand exactly what the parody is alluding too, you can go 'I know what he's talking about!'

--

So otherwise, how was the chapter? Read and Review if you can.

Next chapter is the unveiling of Naruto's shikai. I hope you guys look forward to it.

All comments and suggestions are welcome. If you guys have a suggestion for a shikai, bankai, etc let me know. If you've got a good jutsu that you want me to use, just put it in a review and I'll give credit to you. Thanks again.

Look forward to a new chapter within a month or so.

So as they say at the end of every episode of Eureka Seven, To be Continued


	10. Hametsu e no Rondo Rondo to Destruction

After a week and then another week passed since the team had returned from the land of the wave, things were mostly getting back to normal as Naruto adjusted to living with Haku. In this omake, we find Naruto and Haku sitting side by side at a Japanese style table pouring over some of Zabuza's old scrolls, looking for good kenjutsu forms for Naruto to practice with.

"How about this one Naruto-kun?" Haku asked pointing to one scroll in front of her.

Naruto was only half listening. The only thing he could think about was Haku's slender shoulder brushing casually against his. Naturally, since he was never around girls, excluding Tenten, close contact with others made him a little nervous.

"Is something wrong Naruto-sama, your expression is odd." Haku asked, concerned.

Naruto, startled jumped at the question "Nothing, I was born this way!"

Haku laughed, a laugh as haunting and mysterious as the dark haired beauty " Is that so? That must be hard for you..."

Tenten opened Naruto's front door and stepped inside, taking off her heavy coat and scarf "What are you doing sitting next to Naruto, eh noodle head?"

"Oh nothing! We're just looking at some scrolls, just some scrolls!" Naruto said, waving his hands in front of his face.

"Haven't you ever heard of knocking, pork buns?" Haku shot back at the weapon's mistress.

The two blossoming young women glared at each other with eyes full of killing intent. Naruto moved in between the two deadly kunoichi, pulling the two away from each other "Now, now, its almost time, no fighting..."

As he did this Neji and Lee entered through the apartment entrance, sending snow and ice into the warm apartment.

"Fighting again?" Neji asked, smirking.

"Neji, they are only expressing their flames of youth!" Lee yelled.

"Come on Tenten-chan, Haku-chan stop fighting!" Naruto pleaded.

"Shut up Naruto!" the two yelled.

"ooh, Naruto-kun you had better call the firefighters, because you my freind have just been burned!" Lee pointed out.

"At least I have a girl to yell at me, ooh backburned!"

"Wahh..." Lee cried onto a reluctant Neji's shoulder.

"There there..." Neji said, then to the others "can someone please get this idiot off me?"

"I'm sorry Lee I'm sure Sakura will come around sometime, truce?" Naruto asked, holding out his hand to the spandex clad shinobi.

"truce" Lee agreed, wiping his eyes with the bandages on his arms.

"Done" Naruto agreed, shaking Lee's hand.

"What a bunch of idiots" Neji commented, smiling wryly.

"Yah, but they're our idiots!" Tenten said, putting her arm around Naruto.

Seeing Tenten put her arm around Naruto, Haku put her arm around Naruto as well, behind his back the two rivals glared daggers at the other. As the hours counted down people came and went. Tsunade, Jiraiya, Ayame, and even old man Teuchi, as well as many others passed by. The white haired toad sage had even conjured up some frog summons, wearing santa hats. The whole house was full of laughter, merriment, and possibly alchohal spiked eggnog(by a certain busty blonde sannin).

Tenten, putting down her fifth glass of the thick yellow drink, half-sang as she "Its beggining to look a lot like christmas..."

--

**Author's Notes: **Hey guys, its Hiro here and I'm back with another update! Thanks to everyone who told me about the **Gogyo Fuin(Five Prong Seal) **I would have done this chapter earlier but I had a lot of junk to do recently. I had a long rant here about the kinds of things that make fics bad in this section, but in the spirit of christmas I decided to remove it, cause really who wants to deal with that kind of stuff what with the holidays. If you're not a christian, if you're a Jew, Muslim, of any other religious affiliation, or even Atheist I still wish you the best of tidings and happy holidays.

**On a positive note:** There are a couple good fics coming out right now. Two stories that caught my eye were ones about the Yondaime and his future wife growing up, etc. I really aplaud their efforts, that took guts to try something like that. I wont say their real names cause I don't want to spoil it for those that don't know, but I encourage people to read them, they're fairly decent so far.

**Also,** Naruto's mom looked different than I thought she would. I guess when they said red headed I just thought of an older Shakugan no Shana.

Oh well, go figure...

**And** I'm still looking for a beta (not very hard) basically, he or she would have to read the unpublished chapters I send them, review them, correct grammer and possibly spelling, offer suggestions, etc. Anyone who's interested, (though I doubt anyone will be), to be qualified, should have at least some small experience in writing as well as reading fanfiction and of course the Naruto universe, and a cursory knowledge of Japanese would be a good bonus too. They'd have to be dedicated to the task(I can't have my beta taking a month to get back to me on a chapter) If you think you're up to it, send me an email, pm, or review...

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

**Summary: **In the last chapter the second exam started. Each team was given one scroll, either heaven or earth. They have five days to reach the center of the forest with a pair of scrolls. Naruto's team encountered the snake sannin Orochimaru, and was promptly defeated, inadvertinly buying enough time for Sasuke and Sakura to escape. However their efforts proved to be in vain as Sasuke received the cursed seal. Upon awaking, our blond haired orange ninja soon encountered the blood thirsty Gaara.

Now on to the much awaited next chapter of Descending Heaven!

--

The exam had started and Tenten was worried over Naruto, in a protective big sister sort of way. It was no secret that the two were close, but in fact since they had met, rarely a day had gone by in these seven years were they were not side by side, they were both alone in the world, so why not be alone together? Even during Naruto's first big mission, Tenten was given the chance to accompany and watch over Naruto.

Now seperated, Tenten wondered how the blond genin would fare by himself, taking into account he didn't have very realible teammates. A feeling in the pit of her stomach told her that he was getting into some sort of predicament as she thought these very words.

"We'll split up and in an hour meet back here, understood?" Neji asked, his face etched in a permenant frown.

"Yokai(roger)" Lee said, saluting.

"huh? Yah let's go." Tenten said, snapping out of her worrying.

The three ninja lept into the trees, each heading a different direction, Neji west, Tenten north, and Lee south.

--

**"Okiro(Awaken) Clare!" **Naruto's cerulean blue eyes turned gold and slitted. His katana was surrounded by a harsh wind, obscuring the sand trio's vision. When it cleared, the rather plain katana was gone and in its place was a thin double edged claymore. It was about 4 feet long (remember Naruto's not much taller than that right now. As he gets taller it'll adjust to fit his size).

It's metal had a silvery white sheen to it and a fuller (basically a hole the same shape as the general blade made to make it lighter, if you're confused or interested just look up swords or fuller on wikipedia) ran through from the base of the blade three quarters down to the tip. There was no crossguard and the hilt was wrapped with a leather-ish brown material. Attached to the hilt at the end by a small metal chain was a metal coin. It's metal was the same color as the blade and embedded on both sides was the symbol Clare wore on her neck(the number 47 symbol) in bright red. Overall it was a lighter, more elegant version of the sword Clare herself carried.(Just imagine Clare's claymore, but with a long elongated diamond shaped hole from near the hilt to near the point and without the crossguard) and on Naruto's left hand was a black glove with metallic fingers and a metallic crest, that looked like Clare's symbol inside a metal circular border.

"This is Clare's real form." Naruto said, gathering chakra to his legs. Naruto leapt into the air, dodging the wave of sand. Holding his sword above his head, he brought it down with all the strength in his body to cleave the boy in two.

To Naruto's suprise a wall of sand had formed and blocked his sword at the last moment. The orange ninja struggled to cut through the sand, but was forced back by the iron strength of Gaara's sand. The red haired ninja just stood, in the same spot, not even blinking at Naruto's attack.

The fox jinchiruki ran towards him sword raised, when large spikes of sand suddenly formed from the sand wall. The blond ninja stopped his charge and changed directions at the last moment, narrowly avoiding impailment on the sharp spikes.. Dashing to the right, he found the sand followed him nomatter where he went, sheilding and attacking for Gaara in every conceivable direction.

"This is my shikai(initial release), along with a small increase in strength and speed equivelent to opening the one or two gates, and minor regeneration, it also lets me do some other cool stuff with this sword of mine."

"Die" he said impassively "**Sabaku Kyu(Sand Coffin)**"

Slowly sand gathered around Naruto forming a sphere around him. Eyes darting, the leaf's number one unpredictable ninja held out the claymore behind him, the point in the opposite direction from Gaara.

"You're not very talkative are you?" Naruto asked as the sand surrounded him.

"**Sabaku Soso(Sand Funeral)**" the red haired sand shinobi made a crushing motion with his hand, and the sand compacted with monsterous force.

The sand rushed in towards Naruto at a high speed enveloping the genin in all directions, an attack that left no blind spots.

"Now Naruto!" Clare roared at the top of her lungs from within the tundra of Naruto's mind.

Just as it was just about to crush the blond genin, Naruto channeled all his chakra into his left arm and released it all at once.

"**Kōsokuken!**"Naruto cried "**Flash Sword!**" as his hand and blade cut faster than the eye could track reducing the sand coffin to dust.

Clare compared her personal technique, the flash sword, to awakening one's arm into a beserker state, while the entire rest of the body and soul struggled to control it with all its might. Using this technique one's cutting speed increases tremendously, enabling them to reduce most targets into mincemeat, however it consumes a large amount of energy and is strenuous to one's arm.

Gaara stepped backwards as if he had received a blow to the chest, "How, this isn't possible... My sand coffin... Mother..."

The red head sand ninja clutched his head as he fell to one knee, breathing in deep jagged gasps

"Mother, please it wasn't my fault..." Gaara clutched his right eye doubling over with pain, then suddenly the psycotic red head stood straight up as if nothing had happened.

"I understand mother, I will spill all his blood for you."

Naruto, panting ran forward his sword trailing behind him, the orange ninja jumped and attacked Gaara once again. He swung horizontally at Gaara's midsection, only to be repelled once more by sand. The sand struck like a spear at Naruto's head. The blond ninja ducked underneath and delivered an uppercut with his sword, which was also blocked by an impenatrable wall of sand.

"I can't keep this up, even with my shikai... I'm not fast enough... Kuso, Kyuubi help me out!" Naruto mentally yelled, but no red chakra leeked out from the blond ninja's navel...

_That's right, the Kyuubi's not here anymore..._ Naruto thought as he dodged another wave of sand.

Suddenly, the sand moved with suprising agility, mirroring Gaara's hand. Then with a vicious squeeze, the tanuki container tossed the blond boy like a rag doll into a tree, backfirst. Naruto's head snapped back from the impact and the silver claymore fell from his useless fingers onto the forest floor, his arm dislocated and fractured.

The blond ninja gritted his teeth his vision blurred by white spots from the pain. Slowly, he stood up again and picked up his sword, this time with his left hand. Naruto moved his throbbing left arm up and placed the hilt into his mouth (think Zolo from One Piece) and using his still movable left hand, reset his right arm back into its socket. Even with the sword in his mouth, the blond boy cried out from the pain.

Once again switching back to his right arm, Naruto looked back over to where Gaara was. The tanuki jinchiruki stood as always, completely still, waiting for Naruto to come to him.

"Kuso, this guy's insanely strong, but I got to think of something... and fast..."

--

Each member of team Gai had gone their seperate ways, promising to meet in an hour's time. Racing through the trees at a breakneck speed, Lee spied 20 leaves falling from the forest canopy to the floor below.

"Yosh! If I can catch all 20 of these leaves Sakura will fall in love with me, and I'll be able to prove to Neji I'm just as splendid a ninja as he is.

Lee, his eyes on fire from his burning will, caught leaf after leaf in his bandaged hand.

As he neared the twentieth leaf, something strange in the corner of his vision caught his eye...

And the last leaf fell whistfully to the harsh ground.

--

Sakura was scared. Sasuke had passed out from the effects of the cursed seal, leaving Sakura to guard him.

It was obvious to anyone that this was the worst situation. She was the weakest of the entire team, probobly even the weakest in the whole rookie nine. She had no special skills nor abilities and was generally unsuited to doing any task other than swooning over her broody teammate and abusing her other one.

All night she had stayed up, guarding Sasuke and worrying over Naruto, thinking _What if he was dead?_ or worse yet..._ What if her lack of ability as a ninja was the cause?_

Bags had developed around her eyes, and she became so tightly wound, she had almost skewered a passing squirrel with a kunai as dawn arrived. All in all, she was close to complete mental breakdown.

"Well well, what have we here?" a familiar voice taunted.

"It looks like someone's been setting traps... Its obvious from the freshly turned soil and rocks..." another said.

"This is so ameturish. Underestimating us like this..." yet another voice taunted, this one female.

Appearing out of nowhere were the three sound ninjas they had met before, dressed in gray camaflouge gear.

"We're here for Sasuke little girl, hand him over to us..." Zaku arrogently ordered the pink haired genin.

"What does this mark mean, what does that snake man want with Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, her voice betraying her exhaustion.

"A mark... the cursed seal! I can't wait after hearing that!" Dosu said, and the three ninja lept into the air.

Sakura cut a wire next to her and a huge log swung straight towards the three airborne ninja. The ninja with the shaggy white mane, Dosu promptly placed his palm onto the log and exploded it to bits using the device attached to his right arm.

"So weak, I hate being underestimated like this... No talents like you shouldn't even be allowed to wear a headband" he sneered, rearing back for a punch.

Just as the three were about to come within reach of the pink haired kunoichi, the three heard a loud shout **Ai to Kariuto Kecku(Love hunter Kick)!** and all three of the oto ninja were blown away by a feirce kick. Standing in front of Sakura with a squirrel on his shoulder was Rock Lee.

"My name is Rock Lee, the handsome blue beast of the leaf!" Lee said, striking his trademark battle stance "and I will defend Sakura with my life!"

Dosu snickered,"Your life huh? Well it can't be helped then. Zaku, I'll leave Sasuke to you. This one's mine..."

The sound ninja dashed towards the taijutsu specialist. Lee reached deep into the earth and pulled out a huge tree root, blocking Zaku's fist. Then disappearing, Lee reappeared underneath Dosu and kicked the ninja's chin launching him into the sky, "**konoha senpu(Leaf Whirlwind)**"

_Gai-sensei, the time to use the forbidden technique is surely here, I'm defending the life of one I hold dear!_

Lee unwrapped the bandages bound to his arms, and appeared behind his opponent. Wrapping them around both of their bodies, the bowl cut ninja reversed their spin in the air, sending them spiraling head first into the ground.

"Too bad... I landed on soft soil, but it looks like you weren't that lucky... Thanks Zaku" Dosu said, brushing the dirt off his clothes.

"Your moves our fast, but our's are faster, and not all the taijutsu in the world can peirce our wall of sound!" Dosu continued, through his bandages.

With lightning quick speed, the oto ninja disappeared and appeared above Lee. The taijutsu specialist attempted to kick Dosu, only to have his kick evaded. The sound ninja punched Lee, the sound waves rupturing his left eardrum.

"See this machine on my arm? It allows me to use sound to hit your eardrums, effectively disrupting your senses." he continued "You three are as good as dead..."

Lee winced, from both the insult and the pain resulting from the move he just finished, totally whiped out _I've got nothing left... Gai-sensei, what do I do know? _

--Back with Naruto--

Naruto was battered, mutiple bruises and cuts checkered his body. His jumpsuit was bloody and its right sleeve was torn off. His right arm hung limp, next to useless Blood and sweat ran down his face, there was no doubt in his mind he was fighting a battle he couldn't possibly win.

Gaara on the other hand had not been scratched once, his sand shield and armor protecting him from any blow. Slowly but surely, he was tearing the blond ninja limb from limb.

_This is hard fighting like this... I can't run like I was taught in the academy _(think arms behind body, leaning forward, the normal goofy way shinobi run in the Naruto series)_, while still carrying Clare, it throws me off balance, and not being able to move my right arm doesn't help. To make things worse, I've already gone past twice the time I've ever had my shikai active. I have to end this, and the only way to do that is with the flash sword, but can I pull of another? _Naruto thought to himself.

--Back with Lee and Sakura--

Beaten withing an inch of his life, Lee sunk down onto his knees crying silent tears "Neither Sakura nor I have much fight left. Why, did it turn out this way, even though I've worked so hard, for so long, to be able to protect someone dear to me, and when it finally counted, I failed..." Lee thought to himself, "Neji must be right... It's my destiny to always be a loser... I'll never be as splendid a ninja as him..."

"Don't give up Lee! We can still win!"

"Who's that?" Zaku asked, looking around, suddenly a kunai planted itself near his feet "huh?"

"**Dainamikku Entorī(Dynamic Entry)**" suddenly a certain bunhaired kunoichi burst out of the trees and flew towards the sound nin, kicking Zaku in the face with all her might, knocking him off his feet

"That move... Tenten..." Lee whispered, even more tears falling down his cheeks.

"Come on Lee, crying won't help you become the best taijutsu specialist in the world." Tenten said, making a fist and stomping her leg to emphasize this.

"Ow! Your foot is still on my face!" Zaku's muffled voice whined from underneath Tenten's shoe.

"Oops sorry" Tenten said removing her foot from his head.

"That's going to leave a mark. Oh my face, what the hell you bitch" the black haired sound genin said, a foot imprint on his head.

"Well well, who was it a minute ago who was chastising that pink haired bitch for caring too much about her looks?" Kin said, laughing.

"Shut up! Both of you!" Zaku yelled.

"Hey, I said I was sorry" Tenten responded, shrugging "Anyways Lee never-"

"You, you amateurs, how dare you mess with the sound village!" Zaku yelled, shaking his fist at the pair of leaf genin.

"Yes, you will rue the day you crossed our paths!" Dosu agreed, nodding.

"Shut up, you damn baldy!" Tenten yelled back "I'm in the middle of a heartwarming pep talk so zip it"

"B...Baldy..."

"Don't worry Dosu, you've got tons of hair." Kin said comforting his teammate.

"And... Umm, what was I saying? Oh right, never give up Lee. I know a certain person who couldn't throw a kunai or make a bunshin or even write his own name in kanji, but he kept at it and now I can pick up every third or fourth character he writes. With hard work, I'm sure you'll surpass Neji and show the world just how great a ninja you can be, using only taijutsu!"

"Tenten... Thank you... You've reignited my burning flame of youth... You truely are a great kunoichi" Lee said, standing up straight.

Tenten scratched the back of her head, embarressed "Of course, I'm going to surpass Tsunade-sama one day..."

"Hey you two don't ignore us!" a frustrated Zaku shouted.

A vein in Tenten's head bulged, "Let's kick their asses Lee!"

"Yosh!"

--

Naruto shuddered "I feel a disturbance in the force..."

The blond ninja disappeared with a flash and reappeared in front of Gaara, who defended with another wall of sand, which turned into an clawed hand, reaching for the blond genin. Dodging the arm of sand, Naruto agily lept over the Suna no Tate, stabbing Gaara in the chest.

"Yes I got him!" Naruto said, "Nani!"

Gaara's body began to crack and lose color, revealing a sand doppleganger in his place. The bunshin laughed maniacally as its body held on to Naruto's sword with a steel like grip.

Behind him, the tanuki container prepared a wave of sand. Naruto pulled his sword free from its prison, and with a burst of speed dodged the wave of sand and meet the real Gaara face to face.

"I got you now! **Kōsokuken(Flash Sword)!**" Naruto yelled, his sword and arm only a blur of motion, cutting Gaara's Suna no Tate only to have it reform again and again as he lept forward to impale Gaara.

--

"**Zankuha(sound slicing the air)**" Zaku yelled blowing back the shuriken that Tenten had thrown towards him.

The deadly projectiles flew back towards Tenten, lacerating the poor kunoichi, "Damn, this can't be for real... He blows a freaking wave of wind in my direction and suddenly I'm as helpless as that excuse for a kunoichi? That's fucking unfair! I want a recount!"

Tenten surveyed the situation. She had been fighting the three sound nin with minor assistance from Sakura and Lee; however Lee was injured and all Sakura could do was throw weapons, which Tenten was much better at anyway. Taking them on one on one she might have been able to beat their individual skills, but as how to fight all three at once, the bun haired kunoichi was stummped.

When fighting long range, the Zaku could easily blow back any weapons she used. Close range taijutsu and kenjutsu were also out of question. The appliance on Dosu had seriously injured Lee just by making contact. She couldn't even evade or avoid their attacks. Lee, Sakura, and of course Sasuke were in no condition to take a head on attack from anyone, meaning Tenten had to sheild the wounded ninja, causing further harm to the bun haired girl.

Dosu suddenly broke into a sprint, heading for Sakura. Reading his movements, the pink haired girl threw a kunai, which was easily dodged by the agile sound ninja.

Tenten's eyes widened as she realized the shaggy ninja's intention. Pulling out her summoning scroll, she fired a wave of weapons while summoning a rather battered katana, that looked as if had seen many battles, the same one she had beat Naruto with just days before.

Dosu easily dodged the weapons and lept of the tree towards Sakura, his arm outstretched. Tenten focused chakra to her legs, applying her tree running skills, to give her a burst of speed. The bunhaired girl shoved the other girl out of the way, raising her sword up to block Dosu's arm. Locking their respective weapons together, the two entered a battle of strength, each attempting to force the other back.

"Heh heh... Didn't you learn from your green buddy? I can control sound and rupture your eardrums just by making contact" Dosu forcing Tenten's katana down with his superior strength. Using chakra, Dosu redirected the clash of metal into her eardrums, amplifying it a thousand fold.

To his suprise, Tenten smiled, forcing Dosu's arm back with another burst of chakra.

"N-Nani?" Dosu began.

"I did the only thing I could think of, I plugged my ears with chakra" Tenten said, once again bringing her sword down against Dosu's arm.

Suddenly, Dosu smiled back at Tenten"You think you're smart eh?"

Tenten's eyes widened as her katana, shattered into a hundred peices, leaving only the hilt intact.

Dosu smiled "You think I'm a one trick pony? Its childs play to allign the frequency of my amplifier to resonate with your sword till it shatters. You were so intent on saving your freind, you didn't even notice the change in the sound's frequency. Inferior shinobi like you shouldn't underestimate a ninja of my caliber."

Tenten's eyes glared at the sound shinobi full of hate "That was the only memento I had from my parent! You asshole, how dare you!"

"What are you going to do about it? Against the three of us, you're done for." Dosu said.

"**Zankuha(sound slicing the air)!**" Just as he yelled, another wave of sound hurtled in Tenten's direction. The leaf kunoichi dodged just in the nick of time, feeling the sound miss her by an inch. Sensing another attack, Tenten lept forward, turning her jump into a roll when she hit the ground. Above her, Dosu came down like a ton of bricks, annihilating the spot where Tenten was just standing. Bruised and battered, the bunhaired kunoichi faced off against the three once again.

_Dammit, Naruto, where are you?_

--

"One more time! **Kōsokuken(Flash Sword)!**" Naruto yelled, his sword whipped around hundreds of time, cutting through the massive sand wall. Just as he was about to make contact, the suna ninja jumped backwards.

"This is it!" Naruto yelled leaping after him.

The sword weilding genin jumped after the rapidly reatreating sand genin, hurridly he thrust out his sword with all the strength left in his hand.

Just as the sword was about to make contact with Gaara, a centimeter away, Naruto gasped. Gaara had used his sand like a platform and floating in midair.

"That's cheating! Kuso, I'm out of time..." Naruto said, his eyes turning back from their gold color to pure blue. His sword hissed steam, turning back into its original katana form.

Suddenly, Naruto's eyes widened "Tenten-chan!"

"Do not lose focus or you will find yourself dead..." Gaara's sand becoming a blanket floating over the entire clearing.

"Sorry, but I got to cut this short. Tenten needs me..." The blond ninja sheathed his sword and disappeared with a gust of wind.

Gaara's eyes widened "Shunshin? No, his technique is something entirely different..."

--

"Sakura who did this to you?" a curse seal covered Sasuke stood up from his resting place. An evil purple aura wrapped around his dark frame.

Without waiting for the answer answer the resident Uchiha proceeded to lay waste to the sound ninja, breaking Zaku's arms and pummeling Dosu. Sakura and Lee could only watch as Sasuke decimated the ninja they were so easily defeated by.

"Sasuke-kun please stop..." Sakura pleaded hugging the black haired genin.

"get off of me Sakura, I'll kill them all..." Sasuke prying the pink haired kunoichi's arms off him.

"Please..." Sakura begged, stepping in front of Sasuke

"I understand now Sakura, I'm an avenger... I only exist to kill him, now move out of my way." Sasuke commanded.

Sakura, tears pouring down her eyes, hugged him one more time,"I love you"

"I couldn't care less you pitiful excuse for a kunoichi, I don't have any use for dead last weaklings..." Sasuke pushed her to the ground roughly.

"Sasuke-teme stop it!" Tenten said, stepping between the two. A look of perilous determination in her eye, the weapons mistress pulled two kunai out of her sleeves with a flick of her wrists.

"Move!" Sasuke ordered.

"Damn teme... You, and your high and mighty ass can take a hike!" Tenten said, clenching her kunai.

"How dare you! You insolent, clanless bitch. I'll kill you" Sasuke said, grabbing her arm roughly.

"Get off!" the bunhaired kunoichi yelled.

"Teme... Don't touch her..."

Sasuke's blood red sharingan widened. Under his chin was a very sharp katana attached to a orange covered sleeve and in front of him holding a battered Tenten was an equally battered blond haired ninja.

"Naruto no baka..." Sasuke said, his face turning into a mask of hatred as he let Tenten's arm go free.

"Naruto-kun you're injured, what happened?" Tenten asked, seeing the state Naruto was in.

"Don't lay another finger on any of them teme," Naruto whispered "The only reason I'm not wiping the floor with your gay ass right now is that you saved my freinds from those sound ninja."

Naruto turned back towards Tenten "Oh this, well you see I got into a fight with this guy you see..."

"Baka... I was worried about you" the girl said, giving the blond ninja a hug. Her face hidden from the blond genin, tears welled up and fell down her cheeks "Baka... Seperated for the first time in more than a year and the first thing you do is get yourself almost killed. Baka... I'm the older one, I'm supposed to take care of you..."

Naruto seeing how worried his childhood friend and crush was returned the hug "Arigato Tenten-chan, but I can't have you protect me forever. The only reason I'm in this exam is so I can protect you and the others when you need me. And if I can't do that what's the point?"

"Baka Naruto... Always thinking of others... Always trying so hard... Always so clueless..." Tenten said, pulling away from the blond genin, whiping her tears from her face with her sleeve.

"I'm sorry for making you guys worry. I just got into a little bit of trouble is all, see Tenten-chan, I'm already healing." Naruto said flexing his injured arm "Owww!"

"I'd hate to ruin this codac moment, so me and my comrades will be taking our leave... In exchange for your kindness please take our earth scroll" Dosu said, picking up his teammates and disapearing into the thick foilage, leaving behind his earth scroll.

With the sound ninja gone, Sasuke with his one track mind instantly, demanded Naruto fight him, his curse mark flaring everywhere.

"Forget it, Sasuke-teme. As much as I want to beat your ass,Tenten-chan and the others are way more important right now." Naruto said, sheathing his sword and walking away "Let's go Tenten."

"Don't turn your back on me baka!" Sasuke shouted, grabbing the blond's shoulder.

"You really want to fight, fine. After we get out of here, we'll have a match" the blond haired ninja said casually as he walked back towards the others.

"Oh and teme..." Naruto said, his voice even.

"What, baka?" Sasuke asked.

"I won't lose..." Naruto said, his eyes turning gold for a split second.

Sasuke smirked, his curse mark fading.

--

Elsewhere in the forest a badger masked Anbu appeared in front of team ten.

"Who are you?" Kiba asked, startled.

"I have orders from Hokage-sama to bring back the hyuuga heir and her teammates, I'm sorry, but the exam is over for you three."

"Ano... Ano... A-Anbu-san, may I ask why?" the lavendar eyed princess asked.

"Hiashi-sama himself requested it Oujo-sama(title for a girl of high status), apparently a former student of the Hokage is up to some mischief" the Anbu said, mirth leaking through his mask. As mist rose around the clearing, the four vanished.

--

"Yatta!(Yaa!), we finally have enough scrolls for all of us to pass!" Lee said, making a whooping noise after the six ninja had received their fourth scroll, netting them both a spot in the next exam.

"Heaven" Naruto said.

"And earth!" Tenten finished for the blond.

The two teams had relucatantly cooperated in order to make it safely across the forest of death towards the tower at the center. The word reluctantly is used because the two top rookies Sasuke and Neji, refused help from others, each genius having a stick up their ass. Still, with Naruto recovering from his injuries he received in the fight against Gaara, and Lee, Sakura, and Tenten's injuries from the fight against the sound ninja, the two genuises were forced by popular vote to cooperate.

Three days later a crowd of genin including team 7, team 8, and team Gai, the sound team, and the sand trio stood before a multitude of leaf jonin as well as the fire shadow himself.

"Congratulations on making it this far into the chunin exams. It is wonderful to see so many talented shinobi present this year." The Hokage said. He continued on talking about intershinobi village politics and the reasons for the chunin exams. As he finished his speech, another rather sickly looking ninja took his place.

"(cough, cough) My name is Hayate Gekko your proctor for the third exam. The third exam will consist of one on one matches between the rest of you. There's just one problem there are still too many participants." the sickly jonin said.

"Too many, what do you mean?" Temari asked.

"Well(cough), normally there would be ten or so of you here after the second exam, however this year we have a large number of promising canidets. Hmm...let's see there are Team Seven and Eight of konoha, Team Maito Gai, one sand ninja team, and one sound team. That makes for a total of fifteen, three too many. So...(cough cough), starting right now(cough cough) is the preliminary exam for the third exam and chunin finals!"

--

**Special christmas, end of chapter jutsu!**

The christmas party was over, and all the ninja had left except for Naruto, Haku, and Tenten. At last, Tenten stood up to leave

"(hic) snow lady, I'll just going outside now, but I could easily find my way back inside, you know what I mean?" the slightly tipsy kunoichi asked.

"I have a name, its Mizukage Momoichi Haku." the black hair kunochi responded cooly, not batting an eyelash.

"Oh yah well I have a name too, asskicker!" Tenten yelled back.

"I bet people rarely use the 'kicker' part" Haku snapped back, crossing her arms over her chest.

"NNNaruttttooo-kun (hic) can you help me whichever way to the door" Tenten asked, using Naruto's shoulder as a crutch

"someone can't hold their eggnog very well, eh pork buns?" Haku noted, sarcastically of course.

Naruto helped Tenten to the door, oblivious to the two kunoichi's antics "You sure you'll be ok in your apartment by yourself?"

Tenten removed herself from Naruto's arm, grabbing the door frame to support herself "Daijobou(It's alright) (hic)"

"If you say so" Naruto said, skeptical.

"Hey look at that" Tenten said glancing up "Misletoe..."

Naruto looked up, embarressed to find out she was telling the truth. The blond jinchiruki's cheeks turned crimson.

Suddenly, the blond hokage-in-training noticed the bun haired girl was much closer than usual, close enough to feel the warmth coming off of her body, close enough to feel the beating of her heart against his. The two locked eyes with each other, their bodies were drawn together as if by magnetism and slowly Naruto and Tenten's lips inched closer and closer until finally they met in a chaste, but passionate kiss.

"I love you Naruto-kun"

"Tenshi-chan, I love you too..." Naruto whispered.

As soon as the kiss had happened, it was over and the two broke away from each other, as if shocked by static, both breathing hard, faces flushed.

"What am I saying?" Tenten said, blushing furiously.

Tenten, realising what she had done turned an even brighter shade of red and opened the door to the apartment in a rush. Just as she was about to walk out Naruto grabbed onto her coat sleeve. Tenten turned only to have Naruto wrap his arms around her and pull her into another kiss. Naruto reached around Tenten's slim waist, pulling her into a hug. Blushing even more, the bunhaired girl returned the hug, resting her head against Naruto. Then into her ear, the ninetail jinchiruki whispered

"Merry Chistmas, Watashi no Tenshi(My Angel) Tenten-chan..."

--

Yare yare, what did you guys think? I hope you liked the extra christmas scenes and whatnot. It took me forever to work on this chapter and I changed it right before I posted it, but I think it was halfway decent and I wanted to get it out by Christmas. By the way, I want to clarify, that last part, is in no way related to the story right now. That juicy stuff comes later, look forward to it, I know I am.

Read and Review, all flames, comments, plot ideas, jutsu, zanpakuto, pairing ideas, etc. are welcome, I'll give you credit when I use your idea in a chapter.

I was thinking about giving Naruto a sensei, a good one. Not someone who's going to give him the key to all the power in the world, but someone who can still help him advance, not just as a shinobi but as a person, a mentor of sorts. Im already giving him one training mission, but I think that a permenent sensei might be benificial, on the other hand it might make him too overpowered when you add in both Clar, and the last thing I want is a superpowered Naruto story. Also that means I'd have to invent an OC character, which I'm not sure I'm up for. Besides I kindea detest most stories with too many OC's in them because I tend to lost track of who they are. Tell me what you think and if you have a good OC for me to use, then submit it to me. If I like the character, then I'll probably use him or her, if not in this role, then at some point during this story.

--Character Profile Part 2--

Clare's shikai form: In this form, the zanpakuto turns from a standard katana into a guardless Claymore with an elongated diamond shaped hole with a coin shaped trinket at the end of it. Naruto also gains a glove on his left hand. The glove is primarily black with metalic looking fingers and strap. On the back of the hand is Clare's symbol in the same metallic color around a silver border and, in the center of Naruto's other palm appears a small blood red spiral. The glove is based off of Tsuna Sawada's X-glove, one of the coolest weapons to date.

This form allows Naruto a small increase in strength and speed, equivelent to one or two open gates, and increased regeneration, though not as much as the Kyuubi's chakra had previously given him. It also allows him a small degree of extrasensory perception and limited foresight, through the acute ability to sense chakra, in the same way that Clare could sense Yokai, though not as much as the Sharingan or Byakugan.

**Hiro's New Jutsu Corner**

**--**

**Sabaku Kyu(Sand Coffin)**- basically, Gaara uses sand to encompass and surround his prey, making a coffin around them so they cannot escape.

**Sabaku Soso(Sand Funeral)-**After using the sand coffin to restrict movement, Gaara compacts all the sand, crushing the victim.

**Dainamikku Entorī(Dynamic Entry)**-the user throws a kunai at the feet of the unaware opponent. Distracted by the kunai, the user does a flying kick to the opponent's face, not very effective in most situations

**Kōsokuken(Flash Sword)**-Clare's personal technique learned in her liftetime taught to Naruto. It focuses all the user's chakra into the sword weilding arm. The arm then goes beserk, increasing cutting speed a hundred fold, creating a hundred afterimages of the blade as it attacks, because of the strain it has on one's arm, Naruto can only safely use this one or two times. (if you want to know what this really looks like just read or watch Claymore after Clare meets with Illena. If you need a episode guide, then as with all things, look it up on wikipedia)

**--**

Well then... To be continued.

Ja Mata


	11. Resonance

"Tenten-chan, I think I've figured a way to increase my training a lot, I absorb information from what a kage bunshin learns right?" Naruto asked "Well I'll just have them work in all the areas I need work in. I'll have them each read books from the library and then release them! Then I'll be super smart"

"I don't know Naruto, this sounds too easy, I mean if training can be bypassed so easily, then why don't more people use this method?" Tenten asked, sharpening her kunai "After all, there are no shortcuts in life."

"Ah what do you know, I'll show you how effective it is, **Kage Bunshin!**" Naruto pouted. A thousand clones poofed into existance.

"Alright now group one, you work on kenjutsu, group two works on ninjutsu, three on taijutsu, four on chakra control, and the rest will read books in the library, got it?" Naruto asked his clones.

"Hai" they answered, each running off to their assigned task.

**Five hours later**

" Alright that should be enough" Naruto said "Kai!(release)"

and all the kage bunshins poofed out of existance.

"Now all I have to do is wait and-" Naruto said, until he began to shake. The blond ninja grabbed his aching head as it pounded away until he finally fell unconcious.

Jiraiya smiled and laughed "Good work gaki, you found the downside to the kage bunshin effect, information overload!"

"Lets see" he continued, pulling out a notepad "four hundred kage bunshin fell asleep, two hundred slacked off, three hundred stuffed themselves with ramen,

ninety-three played pranks on innocent people, three played 'ninja' with the Konohamaru corps, and one peeped with me at the Konoha woman's onsen(hotsprings), personally, my favorite.

Ten years later--

"Tenten-chan, I know a way to get rid of this paperwork, I'll just use the kage bunshin!" Naruto exclaimed to a pregnant Tenten, "Then I can spend more time with you and our baby."

"I don't know Naruto-kun, remember what happened last time?" Tenten asked.

"Nope" Naruto said, giving his best fox grin "Kage bunshin!"

Three Naruto clones poofed into existance, each wearing the hokage robes.

"Alright get to it guys" Naruto said "I'm going home for the rest of the day"

--Five Hours Later--

"So there I was, in the finals of the ramen eating contest. It was down to just me and Choji, the lights were on bright, the chopsticks were blazing, just when I thought I had won..." Naruto told to Tenten, sitting together on their couch.

"You know Naruto-kun, I've heard this story a million times right?" Tenten asked sarcastically, smiling at her lovable husband.

"Hokage-sama, I've got terrible news. Due to the paperwork you're bunshin have done, the village is in chaos" a chunin reported to Naruto "It seems one of your clones has outlawed all foods other than red bean soup and ramen, another assignined all the S rank missions to the current genin, one designated Inuzuka Kiba and Nara Shikamaru to dig under the Hokage monument for gold, one is sailing on a boat to find the new world and the last is currently stealing a little boy's candy and plotting to take over the leaf village."

Tenten stared at her husband at a way that said 'I told you so'

"Get off your butt and fix everything Naruto."

Naruto's shoulders sank in defeat "Yes mam..."

--

**Author's Note**:Happy New Years Everyone! I'm so happy that I finished before the day was over. I'd like to thank everyone who's read this story and everyone who's reviewed. In particular I'd like to thank ZaBucher, who reviewed almost every chapter I've posted, even though he didn't particularly like them.

I'm still looking for a beta, if anyone is interested.

**Also,** I asked you guys and girls last chapter, for a suggestion for an OC sensei for me to give Naruto, but I didn't get many contributions or ideas, so I'll ask again, should I give Naruto an OC sensei? The upside is that it would definately increase his abilities, making much stronger than canon Naruto and he'll have someone to guide him, but the downside is that it might make him a little overpowered when you consider that he already has both the Kyuubi and Clare already. Sure, the Kyuubi and Clare both don't know any jutsu, or many training methods, and Clare's not too patient for a teacher, but they still do give him an arm and a leg up in this story. I really think I should, but at the same time, don't want too... I'm confused, please help.

**Summary:**In the last chapter, Naruto faced off against Gaara, where he unleashed his initial release against Gaara, but ended with the injuring of Naruto's arm. In the meantime Lee faced off against the sound ninja. Tenten soon arrived to rescue him, but was unable to defeat their combined teamwork. Just when it looked like they were about to be killed, Sasuke woke up and proceeded to waste the oto ninja. Just as he was about to turn on Tenten, Naruto arrived. After receiving an earth scroll, Naruto promised Sasuke to a fight. An Anbu arrives to retreive Team 10.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

Onto the next exciting chapter of Descending Heaven

--

The chunin exam preliminary

"(cough cough)Because we have too many contestants, we will be holding a preliminary exam before the actual tournament. Contestants will be randomly assigned an opponent and matches will be posted on the monitor. The prelimaries will begin right now." Gecko Hayate announced to the genin.

"I wonder if I'll get picked?" Naruto mused.

"There is a chance..." A rather short Anbu with a familiar mask said, appearing right next to the blond genin, startling him.

"Whoa! Who are you?" Naruto asked, startled.

"Then again, perhaps not... Naruto-sama"

"Haku! Is that you?" Naruto asked.

The dark haired Anbu laughed and took off her mask, revealing a pale face and a beautiful smile "Hai, Naruto-sama! The hokage was kind, kind enough to let me meet you here at the end of the second exam and also kind enough to grant me full rights as a shinobi of Konoha, despite my past..." she let her words hang in the air, unsaid, but incrediably clear.

Naruto nodded, as if he had known all along "Yah that old geezer sure is something, its only fitting that I surpass him as the next Hokage"

Seeing, the hokage blow smoke from his pipe, Naruto remarked "Cant you see me wearing that hat?" and Naruti henged into an old version of himself, wearing the hokage robes and hat with an outrageously ugly nose (think Jiraiya's hermit mode nose).

Haku hid a laugh at her master's antics, "Naruto-sama, it is good to see that your condition remain unchanged... I had worried about you, that is until I happened to come across, that kind scarfaced teacher you introduced to me. He convinced me that there was no way you could fail something as idiotically simple as the chunin exams..."

Naruto blushed, not used to compliments, even backwards ones "Uh its no big deal, after all I've had the rest of the guys with me..."

Deciding to change the topic Naruto asked "So whats with the Anbu outfit, are you going to be instated as part of the black ops?"

"No, though hokage-dono offered position as an Anbu after testing my abilities, I declined so that I could see see to your safety personally...after all a good servant is her master's shadow." Haku explained.

"Oh I see, well that's cool too arigato Haku-chan -ttebayo" Naruto exclaimed giving the nice guy pose until he remembered his arm was broken, resulting in a large number of curse words spilling from the blond shinobi's mouth.

Calming her master down, Haku applied her **Chiyute no Jutsu (Healing hands technique)** to the energetic fox container, to numb his arm.

First Match

**Akimichi Choji** the screen displayed

"Alright! Go choji, kick some ass" Ino cheered.

"Yah, Choji, if you win, I'll treat you to all you can eat barbeque" Asuma agreed.

**vs. Sabaku no Gaara**

"I quit, no amount of barbeque is worth being killed over" Choji said, cowering behind his team.

"Winner **Sabaku no Gaara**" Hayate announced.

"I agree with you Choji, that Gaara is too troublesome" Shikamaru nodded.

Second Match

**Ino Yamanaka**

"Ah, you people have no motivation. I'll show you lame guys how a real shinobi fights" Ino yelled.

**vs Haruno Sakura**

"Yatta, my chance to finally kick forehead girl in the ass" Ino exclaimed.

"Bring it on Ino-pig" Sakura responded, tieing her forhead protector onto her forehead.

The two ran at each other exchanging punches and jutsu. Sakura and Ino were very evenly matched in terms of physical power, weapon ability, and chakra control. However Ino used her mind transfer technique, after trapping Sakura with her hair. Unfortunately, Sakuzilla is able to break free using Inner Sakura. Both kunoichi's energy drained, they each threw a punch, putting all their strength into their fists. As the attacks hit home, the two collapsed from mutual exhaustion, ending in a double knockout.

"Well that was fast... The preliminaries are over!" Hayate announced "The chunin finals tournament will be held two months from now in the Konoha Stadium

Here are the list of matches in order:

Uzumaki Naruto vs Zaku

Shikamaru vs Kin

Sabaku no Temari vs Ame Tenten

Uchiha Sasuke vs Sabaku no Kankurou

Rock Lee vs Hyuuga Neji

Sabaku no Gaara vs Dosu"

--

The third hokage once again stood before the crowd of genin and inhaled from his pipe before speaking

"You all have made great strides in the last few days. I ask you all to train hard in preperation for the tournament so as to not dishonor your village. While you are undergoing this ordeal, keep this foremost in your mind! You do not have to be the winner of the tournament, all you must do is show your village that you will make an excellent squad leader in order to become a chunin. You must show your prowess in the ninja arts, but also in tactics, planning ahead, as well as the ability to think on your feet. It is all these traits that make for an excellent chunin... That is all, dismissed."

As the names were listed on the screen, the tension rose dramatically. Hopeful contestant locked eyes with their next opponents. On the other side of the room, team Gai was arguing.

"Hmph, my next match will be an easy one..." Neji sneered.

"Argh! Neji, this time I will show you how hard work can overcome even a great genius shinobi like yourself!" Lee practically screamed at the pale eyed Hyuuga.

Mockingly, Neji smiled at his spandex clad teammate "As if a weakling like you could ever defeat these eyes of mine," pointing to his Byakugan.

Lee stared at Neji, a look of frustration on his face. Just as the fuzzy browed ninja was about to tell Neji off, Tenten intervened.

"Alright you two, save the fighting for your match in the finals." Tenten demanded.

"But this really is a dilemna, a match between my two youthful students... How can I pick and train one of you?" Gai asked, tears pouring down the sides of his face.

"Yah, with Neji facing Lee, it really isn't fair, Gai-sensei can't train either of you..." Tenten added.

"I couldn't care less what you do, train that excuse for a shinobi for all I care." Neji folded his arms "either way it won't matter, it is destiny that I win, and a loser like you fail"

"Well I-" Gai started to say.

"Never, Gai-sensei, if Neji is not going to undergo your youthful training regime then neither will I! I will train by myself in order to defeat Neji! I will get started right away" Lee stated, running at full speed out of the arena.

"Lee..." Gai whispered _Your finally walking down your own path, I'm so proud of you..._ The spandex clad jonin gave the thumbs up sign. Then after pondering for a moment

"What am I going to do for the next two months if I'm not going to train Neji or Lee?" The bushy browed jonin thought out loud.

"You could train me Gai-sensei!" Tenten answered.

"How will I fill my time?" he asked to no one.

"I could use some help Gai-sensei!" Tenten responded.

"I really shouldn't be wasting the free time that Hokage-sama gave off to the jonin instructors, but I can't think of anything I really need to do" Gai said, exasperated.

"Actually, Gai-sensei, I have this new jutsu I was working on, I could really use some help finishing it" Tenten yelled at her sensei.

"I wonder if Kakashi's got some free time?" he continued.

"Dammit listen to me, Gai-sensei!" Tenten shouted.

Gai clapped his hands together, as if inspiration had just come to him "I've got it, I could train you, my youthful student Tenten."

"Nah, I'll pass" Tenten said, walking away cooly.

Neji and Lee sweatdropped.

--Ten Feet Later--

"What am I going to do?" Tenten asked herself, anime style sweat running down her back "I acted so cool, but now I don't know what to do in order to prepare for the finals"

_And to top it off... _Tenten clutched the broken handle of her parent's katana_ What am I going to do about a sword?_

--

An hour or so after the preliminary, Naruto and Haku sat down at Ichiraku's for some lunch.

"Back again with that cute girl, eh Naruto-kun?" Old man Teuchi asked.

"And what about Tenten-chan?" Ayame asked, chuckling evilly "quite the player aren't we Naruto-kun..."

Naruto blushed "Ayame-neechan, this is just Haku, my uhh err servent, or something like that..."

"So... A servant, like a french maid? Naruto-kun, I never knew you were into perverted things like that" Ayame taunted playfully.

As she said that, an image of Haku appeared in Naruto's mind wearing a rather revealing french maid outfit, bending over slightly, giving Naruto a good view of her full round breasts, the maid said in a rather seductive voice "How may I serve you, master?"

"No, thats not what I meant! Its nothing like that really" Naruto waved his hands in front of his face as if to wipe away the slightly perverted image of Haku from his mind "We're just living together..."

"Oh my, Naruto, so soon? You must be only 14... Far too young for that..." Teuchi asked "If it were Ayame, I would go over there and ring your neck."

"Dad!" Ayame protested.

"No its just, Haku needed a place to stay after her, err father died, and I offered to let her live with me." Naruto explained.

"I see... Does Tenten-chan know this?" asked Ayame.

"Uhh yah, of course..." Naruto said "although she does get annoyed about it for some reason..."

"I see Naruto-kun... well then were is she now?" Ayame asked.

Naruto scratched his head "Tenten-chan wanted to be left alone, she said she had some stuff to take care of... Come to think about it, she's been acting a little weird ever since the fight with the sound ninja"

"Souka... Well then, just let her be for now, Naruto-kun." Ayame said in a big sister sort of way "She probably needs some time alone to think.."

"You got it, now lets eat!" Naruto exclaimed. He raised his right hand again, to grab his chopsticks, only to remember his arm was, in fact broken again. The blond boy screamed out in pain.

"Naruto-sama! How can you keep forgetting that your arm is broken?" Haku asked.

"Well, to be honest, the Kyuubi always healed my injuries so fast, I could just ignore them, but now..." Naruto explained.

"Thats ok Naruto-kun, just stop moving it around and it will get better eventually." Haku reassured the blonde genin.

Holding up her chopsticks, she said "Now open up Naruto-kun, I'll feed you till your arm gets better..."

--eighteen bowls of ramen later--

"Ah, that was some good ramen, so what do you think we should do now. I've got two months with no missions" Naruto asked, putting down his eighteenth bowl of ramen.

"Well... Naruto-sama I think that we should spend the next month training..." Haku answered, while massaging her own now aching arm. When she had said she would feed Naruto-kun, she didn't know he was going to eat nearly 20 bowls of it, and now her arm was sore from all the noodle lifting.

"Hmmm... Yah I suppose, but what should I train on..." Naruto asked "My chakra control, taijutsu, and kenjutsu all need work..."

"Yes, Naruto-sama, but there is another, better way to train, besides working on only one aspect of your skills..." Haku said, leaving her words hanging in the air.

"Hmm" Naruto said, deep in thought, then a lightbulb appeared "Ooh I get it Haku, wow thats pretty devious of you."

"Yes, very good Naruto-sama. It should be obvious to most of the others by now too... Two months is too long a time to be spent mindlessly training. Under normal circumstances it would be different, but given we know who our opponents are, we can devise a way to defeat them in two months time." Haku stated, her voice foreboding.

"Well my first opponent is some guy named Zaku... All I know is he can shoot waves of sound out of his arm like a cannon..." Naruto explained.

"Hey do you mind!" the man sitting next to Naruto yelled "I'm trying to eat some ramen here!"

Naruto scratched the back of his head "Gomen, I didn't mean to-"

"You!" They both said at the same time.

"I've never seen you around here before" Naruto said in an offhanded fashion "Are you a traveling ramen salesman checking out the competition?"

"You blond idiot, how can you not remember me! You know, your next opponent in the chunin exam, Zaku!" he said, showing the blond genin his headband "How can you not remember me?"

"Oh so you're Zaku. Well, it was pretty dark, and I'm not too good with names and faces" Naruto said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Damn you, you arrogent leaf bastard." Zaku yelled again raising his fist, "I'll wipe that fox grin right off your face."

"Hey just because we're mortal enemies, doesn't mean we can't be freinds" Naruto said, holding out his hand to the sound ninja.

Haku and Zaku sweatdropped.

"Especially if you like ramen, I don't see how anyone who enjoys ramen could possibly be evil" the blond ninja continued.

"I do enjoy ramen..." Zaku shrugged. "well, I guess it couldn't hurt"

**"Naruto, this might be your chance to learn about this ninja's fighting technique," Clare said. **

_Clare!" _Naruto said, indignant.

**We should be focusing on him. Ask him about his jutsu, but remember, be descrete. Just mention it casually, so as to not arouse suspicion...**

_Understood!_

The blond ninja cleared his throat, put on a pair of square office-type glasses, and pulled out a notebook and pen "So, Zaku, buddy, if you were to, say, I don't know, describe your particular brand of ninja whoopass in maybe, one hundred words or less, what would it be?"

Haku sweatdropped_ Smooth Naruto-kun... What sort of shinobi could possibly fall for that_

**"Idiot" **Clare thought to herself.

"Well first, I would try to get my opponent in a headlock or maybe catch him off guard, then I wou-" Zaku started "Hey wait, what do you want to know for?"

"We've been found out, run Haku," Naruto said, finishing his last bowl of noodles, "Grab the ramen!"

Naruto knocked down the stools and chairs in front of him taking a passing by merchant cart and knocking it over, blocking Zaku's path with the wooden wreckage.

"I'm not going to chase you, baka." Zaku said, sitting down to eat his ramen again.

"No you're not, not unless you can jump through fire!" Naruto yelled, holding up a lit match and throwing it onto the wooden obstacle course he'd had just made.

Haku froze the match before it touched the wood.

"Awh, Haku-chan..." Naruto whined.

"Come on Naruto-sama lets go already" Haku ordered, leading the blond genin out of the ramen stand.

"Soo..." Old man Ichiraku and the traveling merchant said, after the two had left "Who's going to pay for all these broken chairs and bowls of ramen, eh new guy?"

"Kukukukukuku, new guy I think you owe us some money," Ayame laughed evily.

Zaku's eyes widened as he realized what the two ramen stand workers meant "Curse you Narutoooooooo!"

"Naruto-sama?" Haku asked, now that they were safly away from the sound ninja.

"Sorry about that Haku-chan, sometimes I get a little carried away..."

Suddenly running from the opposite way that Naruto and Haku had came, was a winded Tenten.

"Ooh, Tenten-chan, hey!" said Naruto, crossing his arms over his head "What's up?"

"Naruto-kun, I need you to come with me" Tenten asked in a ragged voice, breathing shallowly.

"Um... er Haku-chan, that is..." Naruto began.

"Hmph" Tenten said, slightly annoyed Naruto was asking Haku for permission.

"Of course Naruto-sama, there is plenty of time to spy and train, please just do not do anything to strain your arm. I will have dinner prepared for you when you arrive back home."

"Alright then, I'm off" Naruto said.

"Take care, Naruto-sama" Haku said, waving casually as Tenten dragged the blond genin through the streets at top speed.

"So what is it you wanted to show me, Tenten-chan?" Naruto asked, as the bunhaired girl dragged the blonde ninja along into the deep woods surrounding konoha. The two ran through the thick forest until they came to a huge valley, where not a single tree grew. The clearing was barren and huge gashes scarred the ground, clear evidence of an epic battle.

Naruto stood in awe, his mouth agape "Whoaa, this must be where the Kyuubi and the Yondaime..."

Tenten nodded.

"How did you know about this place" Naruto asked, his voice serious.

Tenten took the blond's hand in her own once again "Because... The kyuubi is speaking to me..."

--

_How can a regular shinobilike me, defeat a genius like Neji,_ Lee grunted, doing one handed pushups, while pondering the Hyuuga's most revered taijutsu style, the jyuuken "One hundred and one, one hundred and three, one hundred and four... two-hundred and six-"

Lee collapsed to the ground, exhausted from his training. He had been training in the mountains since the end of the chunin exams trying to figure out a way of defeating Neji's jyuuken. The taijutsu specialist knew that doing punches, kicks and other training exercises like that would not help him defeat Neji, but since he knew no other way of training, he did it anyway.

His speed and strength already far surpassed Neji's especially with his weights off, but that wasn't the problem. As Lee had learned over the many matches the two had, even glancing blows were deadly when Neji used his jyuuken. On top of that the Byakugan gave him full 360 degree vision so Lee could not fully take advantage of his speed by attacking at unconventional angles. Even when he did seem to catch the Hyuuga genius off guard, Neji could always resort to his powerful **Kaiten(heavenly spin)**, which could easily repel any taijutsu attack, nomatter how unconventional. It seemed the Hyuuga genius was near invincable against a genius of hard work like Lee.

"Gai-sensei, you have defeated a genius many times before," Lee thought out loud "What would you do in my situation..."

Getting up again, Lee began walking on his hands around the clearing.

--

Elsewhere, as the rest of Konoha was sleeping peacfully in their futons, Sabaku no Gaara was up and about. When the smoke cleared, the number of chunin exam contestants was one less.

--

"Talking to fuzzball! How is that possible" Naruto asked Tenten.

Tenten folded her hands behind her "Well, it all began when..."

**Flashback no jutsu**

Tenten lay in her comfy fluffy bed, under her favorite pink comfertor. The lonely bunhaired stared at it her mind as blank as her eyes. As she did, she thought about her mysterious parents, she'd never known.The bunhaired girl had looked up the name Ame in the Konoha history archives but she couldn't find one hint of her parents, let alone a clan. Closing her eyes she tried to imagine the kind of people they were. How did they meet? Were they good people? How would they feel if they knew they were destined to be killed by the Kyuubi and leave their only child with only a last name and a rusty old sword... Getting up, she picked up the broken sword hilt, fingering the worn cloth wrapping on the hilt. The blade was completely gone except for a few bits and peices she had saved, but Tenten knew it was irreparable. The strongest katana are created by taking a single bar of metal and folding it over and over on itself to strengthen the blade. If part of it were shattered, even if it could be repaired, it would soon shatter once again. Sighing, she plopped back down on her bed, her arms spreadeagled.

**Hey, you, ningen, pay attention when I'm speaking to you...** a deep foreboding voice called out from the back of Tenten's mind.

"Who's there?" the bunhaired girl asked, her voice echoing in her empty room.

**Vixen do you really not remember? I'll give you a hint the ruler of hell, the king of all demons. No? How about the great Kyuubi-sama! Muhahahahaha..." **The thousand year old fox demon laughed maniacally.

"The Kyuubi? Wha-What are you doing in my head?" Tenten asked the nine tailed biju,"Why aren't you with Naruto, wait what the-!"

The brown haired kunoichi pulled up the oversized orange t-shirt she slept to just above her stomach, to find a smaller version of the seal she had seen on Naruto's stomach before.

The nine tail fox continued his maniacal laughter **"I was just admiring the view..."**

"Eh? The view? You spyed on me while I changed?" Tenten asked, holding the sheet against her body as if to sheild herself from the nine tailed fozes eyes..

**No...** the Kyuubi denied **Well yes... Anyway I got to say, I don't usually go for the human type, but you've got a nice figure ningen."**

Tenten blushed furiously "Dammit, stop spying on me, you perverted fox!"

**Well either way, that kit is lucky to have such a sexy vixen like you... **The Kyuubi said, enjoying the weapon mistress squirming.

Tenten blushed, quickly changing the subject she asked "S-So what are you doing here in my body anyway?"

**Well, actually its because I can't talk to the kit directly, I traded my soul for yours, so my presence and the seal inside Naruto is gone. **The kyuubi explained in a matter of fact tone** I knew I'd be gone for good, so I planted a little piece of myself inside you when you hugged the kit and I've been till the time I was needed and that is now.**

"I see" Tenten said "so it was after the fight with the demon brothers, but what do you need me for?"

**Orochimaru, he was in the forest of death, and he almost killed the kit...**

"The Sannin, Orochimaru!" Tenten asked, shocked "Wait how do you know him?"

**Orochimaru was the reason I came to Konoha, many years ago, on a day like any other, while I was out hunting for food for my wife and my new born kits, he murdered them, my wife and kits... Ever since that day, I've vowed revenge on him and the leaf.**

"Kits... Orochmaru... Konoha..." Tenten repeated, in a daze "Oh that's right, you were the one who attacked the Kyuubi 14 years ago..."

**Yes, it really was a poor tactical plan at first, them attacking me head-on, honestly as if those mere ningen could stand up against the king of the Biju!** The Kyuubi laughed.

Then the Kyuubi's voice lost all its humour, instead becoming bitter **Until that blonde pipsqueak and his oversized frog came and ruined it for me. The next thing I knew, I was in the kit's navel. **

"My parents" Tenten screamed, tears flowing once more down her cheeks.

The kyuubi stopped laughing **"Oh so you're the kit of one of those ninja..."**

"Damn right, you insensitive fox. They were two of the greatest ninja in the history of Konoha!" Tenten yelled.

**"It doesn't really matter to me, I hardly ever learn the names of a human. They're so insignificant, its like learning the names of all the ants you've ever stepped on"** The kyuubi shrugged.

"You... You bastard... Even if you are a demon fox, how can you not care? You said you attacked Konoha because Orochimaru killed your children and wife. You must have felt some remorse at their deaths, its the same as I feel about my parents. How can you be so cruel?" The girl asked, near hysterics.

**"You'd be suprised how cruel I can be little girl," **the Kyuubi practically snarled, sending cold chills down the spine of the kunoichi **"My little kits were slaughtered..."**

**"I won't apologize for any of my actions, I still believe I did what I beleived to be right" **The Kyuubi said, all his rage leaving him, leaving only sadness **"But..."**

A single blue tear welled up in the corner of the Kyuubi's eye and flowed down the fox's cheek as he remembered his kits' lifeless bodies. Using one of his many tails, the Kyuubi whiped it off, looking at the tear as if seeing one for the first time..

**"But, I can sympathize. A kit should never grow up without parents." **The Kyuubi said, his voice betraying his sadness.

Blowing his nose in one of his tails, the Kyuubi continued **"As I've said before I won't apologize, but I might be able to make it up to a good kit like you and then you could protect the kit from that Bastard Snake, cause I hate to say it, but without us, Naruto would be in a heap of trouble."**

**Flashback no jutsu Kai!**

"And that's how I knew about this place." Tenten finished.

"But, why are we here?" Naruto asked, unseasy, the entire clearing gave off an evil feel.

"The Kyuubi told me to come here so he could give something especially for me," Tenten explained.

"And you accepted?" Naruto asked/yelled, a bit hysterical at Tenten's blind trust.

The two walked cautiously into the center of the clearing, Tenten could feel the seal appear on her stomach, as it leeked red chakra into the ground. The ground hissed and spat until it cracked apart, huge flames darted out from underneath, as if from the very depths of hell. Clouds gathered overhead and lightning danced in the sky. Thunder bellowed, and animals hid in their dens, stricken with fear, all too aware of the coming storm.

In front of Naruto and Tenten a deep fissure opened and split until it revealed a path of black, near molten stones going deep into the earth. On either side, lava lay, two rivers of rippling magma, held back by an enigmatical force.

"I think..." Tenten began "we're supposed to go down there"

At first, Naruto looked at her like she was crazy, but seeing the determination in her eyes, the fox container nodded his head and the two slowly headed towards the makeshift tunnel.

Awestruck, the two leaf genin walked, hand in hand, down the fiery path for a long time, until finally...

The passageway in front of them opened up, the two finding themselves in a gigantic circular cavern (about twice the height and width of Gamabunta), and facing them was a terrible, but nonetheless awe-inspiring site, blood matting its red fur, nine tails sprawled haphazardly in all directions, lay the body of Kyuubi...

--

Well, what did you think? Lots of building up and training in this chapter, and probably some in the next chapter too.

As for the chunin prelims, I bet you readerr were thrown for a loop there. I made it a bit different than the origional storyline, as you can see it only contains two short battles. I didn't want to follow the whole formula for the whole chunin exams, so I decided to change it up. I origionally got this idea from an episode of Hayate no Gotoku. There was supposed to be this huge butler tournament. They built it up so much and I was expecting a huge Yu Yu Hakkesho type tournament lasting twenty episodes, but in the end only lasted one or two. At the conclusion, I was like WTF. So I tried to capture a bit of that here, but I'm not too sure it worked.

If anybody would like to contribute a jutsu, plot idea, zanpakuto, etc to this story I'd greatly appreciate it, and credit will be given to you. I'm especially having trouble with Lee and Neji. Thanks in advance.

I havn't had that much feedback or commentary on introducing an OC sensei except for gogeta408, kudos to him, so I decided to make this chapter a bit longer as a teaser/filler to give you guys some time to send me them. I'm still looking for a sensei for Naruto, but please no dojutsu, uzumakis, or dragons... Thanks.

**Jutsu Corner**

**Chiyute no Jutsu (Healing hands technique)D:** Create healing chakra in palms that can repair injuries, though not serious ones. Amount of chakra consumed based roughly on size of injury to be healed.


	12. The Fourth

**Author's Note:**Sorry no omake this chapter. This chapter took me a lot of work, I hope you like it! I'd like to thank gogeta for giving me a great idea. I just recently noticed this, but reading back a lot of the chapters, I have a lot of rather useless chapters. I could have just skipped almost all the stuff up to the wave arc, making this story like ten chapters shorter. I've been thinking, I might need to rewrite this story, one chapter or so at a time. I can't expect others to like my story if I'm not satisfied with it myself. It will take awhile, probably months, but eventually I'll get around to it, just letting you faithful readers know.

**Summary: **In the last chapter, Naruto and the others went through the preliminary exams, with just twelve ninja left, the final tournament was announced in two months time. Each genin was given the name of their opponent, it would be

Uzumaki Naruto vs Zaku

Shikamaru vs Kin

Sabaku no Temari vs Ame Tenten

Uchiha Sasuke vs Sabaku no Kankurou

Rock Lee vs Hyuuga Neji

Sabaku no Gaara vs Dosu"

With the help of Haku, Naruto figures out, by looking underneath the underneath, that they are supposed to learn the weaknesses of their opponent in order to defeat them. With the pairings announced beforehand, it would be simple to spy on an opponent in order to counter their every jutsu. In this way, not only is the fighting ability of each genin being tested, but also their skills in planning, espionage, and their ability to overcome a hostile enviornment. Lee, being matched against Neji, vows to defeat the genius, despite never having beaten Neji before. Refusing Gai's help, even though he doesn't know any way of countering Neji's jyuuken, Lee begins to train deep in the mountains, alone. At the same time, Tenten is contacted by the Kyuubi, while thinking about her parents. After a long discussion, Kyuubi realizes how good a match for Naruto she is (and what a hot body she has) and leads her and Naruto deep into the forest, among the oldest trees in Konoha. Using his chakra to gain entrance, the Kyuubi opens up a path deep into the ground. Naruto and Tenten make it through the burning tunnel, only to come to a humongous cavern and the body of Kyuubi no Kitsune.

--

In front of Naruto and Tenten a deep fissure opened and split until it revealed a path of black, near molten stones going deep into the earth. On either side, lava lay, two rivers of rippling magma, held back by an enigmatical force.

"I think..." Tenten began "we're supposed to go down there"

At first, Naruto looked at her like she was crazy, but seeing the determination in her eyes, the fox container nodded his head and the two slowly headed towards the makeshift tunnel. The air rippled like water in front of them.

Awestruck, the two leaf genin walked, hand in hand, down the fiery path for a long time, until finally it stopped.

The passage way in front of them a corner to find themselves in a gigantic circular cavern (about twice the height and width of Gamabunta), and facing them was a terrible, but nonetheless awe-inspiring site, ninetails sprawled out in all directions, on its stomach, loomed the body of Kyuubi...

"What, what is this. This can't be Kyuub-tan?" Naruto asked.

Tenten responded "I-I think, the Yondaime sealed the soul of Kyuubi no Kitsune into you, along with its chakra, but the body remained in the Konoha's forests. As long as his heart and brain were still functioning, the Kyuubi's body lives on, but with its soul sealed into you, its body stays in a state of suspended animation. You could say its in a real deep sleep, like a coma. Come on, let's get closer."

Naruto and Tenten walked closer until they could make out the individual hairs on the fox's massive tails. The fox demon dwarfed even Gamabunta. Its glossy orange red fur hung matted and dust covered. Numerous scars ran through the fur. After gathering the courage to move, Naruto and Tenten approached its head. As they did, the Kyuubi's right eyelid fluttered open, revealing blood red eyes.

Naruto covered Tenten's mouth, stifling her "Don't move, calm down, its just a reflex, ok..."

Tenten nodded silently, and the two shuffled silently past the Kyuubi's dialating pupil. Passing its pointed ears, the two gasped, behind the fox's head was a thin deep cut running from the Kyuubi's ear to its flank and at the very edge of that slash was a katana.

"I wonder who could have possibly done this much damage to Kyuubi-rin(1)?" Naruto asked, inspecting the cut more closely.

"I guess it was the fourth hokage... Who else could it have been?" Tenten responded, putting her hand on the pommel of the sword only to feel a sharp jolt run through her arm when she touched it. Hastily, she pulled her hand away.

**Indeed, the Fourth Hokage of the hidden leaf village, Minato Namikaze, perhaps the only ninja alive who could have possibly fought against me, the ominous destroyer, Kyuubi no Kitsune! **The demon said, in a storytelling mood.

**Flashback no Jutsu!**

"Just hold on a little longer until the fourth hokage gets here!" a jonin reassured his comrades, firing a katon jutsu at the demon fox king.

"Agh!" another ninja cried as he was crushed by the Kyuubi's tails.

At the hospital, the young blond hokage sat in a chair, holding his red headed wife's trembling hand as she held her newborn baby for the last time.

"Kushina-chan, I don't know what to do. There is only one way to defeat the demon fox, but in order to do that I would need a newborn infant to make into a living container for the Kyuubi, but I can't ask that of another, if I'm not willing to sacrifice Naruto..." he said, as he carrased his baby's blond hair, which was so like his father "Its my duty as Hokage to give up my life when neccesary, I'm ready to lay down my life, but I can't help but worry about you and Naruto when I'm gone. They'll hate him, even if I call him a hero..."

"Minato-kun, I know, but darling what other choice do we have?" the beautiful red head said, crying a little "I love my little Naruto-chan..."

"Hokage-sama, the Kyuubi no Kitsune has just broken through the first perimeter. We can't stop it, its going to reach the village" a messenger ninja frantically said, rushing into the hospital room.

The fourth stood up and put on his trademark coat, kissing his wife one last time, taking his baby from Kushina. Cradling him in one arm, he looked the frantic ninja in the eyes, the fourth's blue-green eyes calm, putting his free hand on the ninja's shoulder "Its going to be alright, I won't let that happen."

Turning to the other ninja, the Yondaime said "Before you leave, can you help me with one thing?"

The young ninja bowed "Of course Hokage-sama"

"Good" the Yondaime slapped the young ninja lightly on the shoulder

"hey you messenger ninja are supposed to be pretty fast right? Alright, then try to keep up!" The Yondaime vanished in a yellow flash.

end flashback

"Wow, the fourth was as cool as I imagined him! Awh man, now I want to be hokage even more. I'll surpass him and all the others-ttebayo." Naruto yelled, his loud voice filling the whole cavern, practically jumping up and down.

Tenten's mouth hung wide open "N-Naruto, you do realize that baby the fourth and his wife had, what the Kyuubi was talking about... It was you."

"Nani!" Naruto yelled, "I'm the son of the fourth, how come no one told me this!"

Tenten sweatdropped "Well, I thought it was pretty obvious, especially after that story."

"Er, well I just thought the name was a coincidence, I mean the fourth and I don't even look alike" Naruto responded, crossing his arms.

Tenten sweatdropped (again)"How many babies named Naruto with your exact birthdate could their possibly be!"

Naruto shrugged "I dunno tons maybe..."

**"Stop interrupting my story!" **The Kyuubi yelled **"So anyway, just as I was having some fun..."**

**flashback again**

"Please, kid, hold Naruto, while I keep the Kyuubi busy alright?" the fourth said, handing his baby to the frantic young ninja. With another flash, he disappeared, leaving the darkbrown haired ninja and Naruto in the oldest part of the Konoha's forests, right where the Kyuubi was headed..

The newly born Naruto opened his eyes, staring at the elder shinobi.

The messenger stared back at the baby with his brown eyes "What are you looking at?"

--

The fourth leaped into the fray, attacking the Kyuubi head on with the rasengan. The sphere of whirling chakra met the Kyuubi's massive muzzle head-on. Minato pushed as hard as he could, unleashing the rasengan's whirlwind to force the fox back, only to have his body smashed aside by one of the Kyuubi's deadly tails.

"Everyone, fall back!" the fourth yelled, recalling all of Konoha's still living jonin and chunin ninja.

As the other ninja left, the biju and hokage locked eyes, staring at the other menacingly. Seeing the wreckage done to the city of Konoha Minato shunshined in a puff of smoke and reappeared seventy yards away. Growling, the Kyuubi followed grudglingly, destroying anything in its path. Seeing the Kyuubi follow him, like any great super hero, chuck norris or super sentai ranger, Minato lured the Kyuubi until they arrived at a desolate wasteland so no harm could befall on any innocents. Looking around, Minato saw the two were surrounded by a forest full of the lushest, greenest, oldest trees in konoha.

However, these were not any ordinary trees. These were the very trees the Shodaime had created, with his Mokuton, the day Konoha was founded. After much research, Minato had found that they had the same ability to suppress demon chakra, like the first hokage, albeit to a lesser degree. Minato hoped these would sap the demon of a small portion of its terrible strength. With that advantage, Minato hoped to be able to defeat the Kyuubi, or at the very least turn it away, without having to sacrifice his son.

As soon as the Kyuubi's body touched the sacred trees, blue fire appeared wherever they came into contact, singing the Kyuubi . Lashing out with its nine tails, the greatest of the biju destroyed sacred tree after tree, leaving huge blistering marks on the tails.

Seeing the damage done to his proud tails, the Kyuubi roared **Fool! As if an attack of this caliber could possibly harm me, I am the Caller of Nightmares, Kyuubi no Kitsune!**

With a swing of its mighty tails, it created a hurricane, and a tsunami, and an earthquake, destroying most of the sacred trees and scaring the ground.

"Kyuubi-sama, I am Minato Namikaze, Yondaime Hokage of Konoha, I do not know why you've chosen to attack Konoha, but I am the protector of this humble village and I will do anything in my power to stop you!" Minato shouted, his voice steadfast and unshaking from atop the crest of a tree opppsite the Kyuubi.

**Very well then, show me mortal, this power of yours...** The Kyuubi said, laughing as it attacked the blond hokage with his many tails. While dodging the numerous attacks, from out of one of his many vest pockets, the fourth pulled out a small wakazashi.

**What could you possibly do with that little thing? As if you could even peirce my skin with that tiny little toothpick, gu-ra-ra-ra... **The Kyuubi laughed.

"Its not what you got, its how you use it!"Minato responded, unsheathing his sword "Now! **Musou(shut out all earthly thoughts), Kan'na(Godless World)!"**

With that the blond hokage's short sword became a standard sized, katana. It had a standard katana crossweaving in yellow and the cutting side of the blade was black. The other side, the blunt one, was silverish with numerous black kanji covering it. Etched onto its guard was the symbol of a lightning bolt in a shiny gold metal.

**"Fuin Jutsu: Hiraishin(Sealing method: Flying God of Thunder)" **he whispered as he twisted his sword in a clockwise motion(Think Rukia, when she transforms her katana into Sode no Shiroyuki) and suddenly tripronged kunai rained down from the sky, littering the clearing. The kunai covered the Kyuubi, embedding themselves in the Kyuubi's fur. Vanishing in a flash, the fourth hokage reappeared on one of the tails.

Minato reared up and tried to drive his sword into the Kyuubi's tree trunk like tail. Much to the fourth's suprise, the sword bounced harmlessly of the fur-like armor. Making a seal in the air, Minato cried "**Konbo Ban: Saku, Shin (Combo Seal:Sharpen, extend)!**" and his sword's edge suddenly became sharp and thin as diamond. As he swung it as another of the Kyuubi's tail it grew until it was almost two times its original height,(think sepheroth).

The Kyuubi spying the blond pipsqueak, attacked him with a tail, only to have him disappear again, and again and again, each time coming closer to the Kyuubi's head. With a mighty leap, the hokage slashed the Kyuubi above the eye, leaving a red scar. Disappearing again, he plunged his sword into the Kyuubi's exposed stomach, causing the fox to cry out.

Somersaulting backwards over another tail, the fourth landed unscratched on the same tree he'd been on, not a minute ago "Had enough, Kyuubi-sama? Leave Konoha now, there isn't any reason to attack these peaceful people."

**Minato Namikaze, was it? **The Kyuubi's kitsune face, seemed to snarl for a second, its nine tails swaying ominously behind it** "If you're so intent on proteting this village then I will make sure that Konoha becomes nothing more than a memory!**

The Kyuubi lept forward, the ground quaking under its weight, reaching for the blond shinobi with its feral claws. Minato evaded once again, jumping high upward into the sky by applying chakra to his feet.

**Dodge this!** Swinging another one of its tails it sent a gigantic pillar of fire towards the blond hokage. Eyes widening, Minato furiously swung his sword as if it were a brush, drawing the kanji for fire with a circle around it (Think Lavi from D Gray Man, when he uses the fire seal).

Just as the fire was about to consume him, he shouted, **"Fūka Hōin(fire seal method)!" **and the monsterous pillar of fire was sucked up into the seal and within a second, a larger version of the fire kanji appeared underneath the Kyuubi.

**What, what is this? **The Kyuubi asked, his slitted eyes darting towards the seal underneath him.

"This is the power of my Zanpakuto, it allows me to instantly create a formula for a seal, limited only by my imagination." Minato said, making numerous hand seals.

**"Katon: Karyuu Saikou Kyuuzou(Fire Release: Fire Dragon Supreme Explosion)" **Minatoblew a huge stream of fire out of his mouth towards the Kyuubi, while also using the **Fuuton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)** by swinging his sword. The wind chakra increased the strength of the fire, turning it into a whirlwind of blazing flame. At the same time, he released the fire sealing method, he had used against Kyuubi's own fire attack. The Kyuubi's own fire, now unsealed, erupted underneath the Kyuuubi combining with Minato's fire attack, making an even larger, hotter blazing fire.

**"Shakunetsu Hi no Arashi(Blazing Fire Storm)" **Minato panted, as the flames engulfed the Kyuubi "This is the end..."

As the fire and smoke cleared, the Kyuubi emerged, his body covered in a furious red chakra, unscratched, in fact it seemed as if the sheild was actually repairing the damage done to the Kyuubi's body "**Foolish ningen..."**

"A-Armor, made out of charka?" Minato stuttered as he watched the Kyuubi walk towards him, now unhindered by the sacred trees.

**"Baka... It doesn't matter what you do..."**

"I won't give up! While this body of mine still draws breath, I'll do anything to save my precious people... **Senran Tōsei(Battle Wind Sword Strike)!**" Gathering wind chakra around his blade, he unleashed it as a razor sharp blade of wind. The wind blade struck the Kyuubi's armored face, shattering off a small peice of the red cloak of chakra. Just as Minato's hopes rose again, the chakra armor reformed again, as red and menacing as before. Gathering wind chakra again, Minato fired his wind wave, only to have the chakra cloak reform once more.

**"You can't possibly peirce my armor of chakra baka, I have the strongest defense of all the Biju and"**The Kyuubi paused**"even if you do peirce my armor, it will only rebuild itself, it really is hopeless..."**

**"Goodbye, Arashi Kaza- I mean Minato Namikaze. Return to Darkness!"**The Kyuubi said as it opened its mouth. A huge ball of red demonic chakra built up and the Kyuubi fired it like a cannon at the blond hokage.

The Fourth threw Kanna into the air and slammed his palms together, yelling **"Doton: Doryuheki. (Earth Release: Earth Style Wall)"**. From the ground, a twelve meter thick wall of earth rose to block the beam of destructive yokai, however the chakra beam sliced through the thick wall like it was swiss cheese.

"Not done yet, **Messatsu Gou Rasen(Magnificent Spiral Destroyer)!**" In one hand the fourth created a huge sphere of chakra, easily the size of his own body. Instead of a mere whirlwind inside the shell of chakra, it looked as if the shell housed a miniture black hole. Rushing forward, he met the beam of chakra head on, and the super rasengan collided with the Kyuubi's chakra in a huge explosion, blowing the fourth hokage into the air.

Much to Kyuubi's suprise, Minato righted himself in the air, smirking as he made a slicing motion with his hands **"Rasengan Senpuuken(Spiral Sphere Blade)!"**

From behind the Kyuubi a whirling blade of pure chakra appeared and sliced right through the chakra sheild.

"I know the secret to your chakra armor Kyuubi..."Minato said as he fell through the air "Your chakra sheild is powerful and rebuilds itself automatically, but it can be easily peirced by fast strong attacks used in succesion."

Disappearing in a yellow flash, Minato appeared in the sky above the Kyuubi, free falling, he stabbed his sword into the Kyuubi's flank, the exact spot he had just peirced with his spiral sphere blade. Running down the Kyuubi with his sword still deep in the Kitsune, he cut through the Kyuubi's massive flank down to its stomach.

As Minato slashed the Kyuubi, a huge surge of the corrosive yokai was expelled by the Kyuubi's wound. Minato was blown away by the terrible chakra, burning his clothes and charring his skin. Taking off his now rapidly disingtigrating signature cape, the fourth clutched his arm, which was quickly turning an angry purple from the Kyuubi's poison.

"Hokage-sama!" The messenger ninja screamed holding Naruto yelled, seeing the fourth injured.

"Get out of the way!" Minato yelled.

From out of the ground, one of the Kyuubi's tails emerged, its pointed tip aiming for the other ninja. The fourth pushed Naruto's temporary guardian out of the way of the killer seeking tail, but not before being slashed across the torso.

"I told you to stay put!" Minato shouted, clutching his chest now "Damn it, get out of here."

The brown haired ninja instantly complied, watching the seriously injured fourth, "H-Hai, Hokage-sama. I'm sorry, sir."

"Don't worry about it, get out of here, wait for my signal" Minato said, switching his sword to his good hand..

**"You thought you were pretty clever don't you figuring out the secret to my cloak of chakra. Well, the jokes on you ningen. Just so you know, my chakra is highly poisonous to anyone who comes into contact with it, even the mighty Yamata no Orochi wouldn't dare approach me with his eight ugly ass heads. " **The Kyuubi smirked, walking towards Minato at a snail's pace, enjoying the fourth's distress "**Such a heavy dose of my chakra is incrediably lethal. It will eat away at your flesh and chakra coils until their is nothing left. Do you understand Baka, it means, nomatter the outcome of this battle, you will die..."**

"I know, I had already given myself up to death, the moment I came to face you, I just wish I didn't have to leave Kushina-chan and little Naruto..." the hokage said sadly "**Kuchiyose no jutsu**!" And with a huge puff of smoke Gamabunta was summoned into the clearing with the fourth on his mighty head.

"Boss! Please, as my final request, please I need you to fight with me one last time..." the hokage said, his calm eyes never leaving the Kyuubi.

"Of course, Minato" Gamabunta said solemnly, as he unsheathed his giant sword. Using his powerful legs like a spring, Gamabunta lept at the Kyuubi, who batted away toad boss his many tails. For such huge creatures the toad and foxed moved with astonishing speed, the Kyuubi simultaneously blocking Gamabunta's sword swings and attacking with his tails. With a mighty swing, the biju wretched away the toad boss' sword, sending it crashing into the ground behind it.

"Gotcha! **Fuuton: Kuushuu (Wind Release: Air Raid)**" Gamabunta and the Yondaime yelled together as they sent jets of oil, water, and air, towards the Kyuubi's equally massive frame, who batted them away with his tails.

Taking advantage of the Kyuubi's distraction,Gamabunta lept clear over the Nine Tails, picking up his massive sword. In a puff of smoke, the massive toad and the fourth dissapeared. Reappearing underneath the Kyuubi, Gamabunta knocked the huge demon into the air. Then the two vanished again in a puff of smoke both slashing the Kyuubi more times than either could count. Sluggishly the chakra sheild absorbed the blows, the chakra rippling like living crimson pudding until it shattered. Gamabunta and Minato kept at it for all its worth, giving numerous scratches to the Fox Biju

"Boss, give me some oil! **"Katon: Gamayu Endan no Jutsu(Fire element: frog fire bullet)!**" The toad boss shot a huge glob of oil like a bullet, which the fourth lit with a fire jutsu, creating a flaming fire bullet. The Kyuubi screamed in pain as the hot oil covered his body, burning his fur. The sheild repaired itself only to be destroyed by the flaming oil.

The Kyuubi screamed ferally, batting the flames out with its tails.

"Go Minato!" Gamabunta roared.

Using the Hiraishin he was famous for, the yellow flash teleported back to the ninja holding Naruto. Taking the baby back, the fourth teleported back onto the toad boss' head, leaving the brown haired ninja in a confused silence.

"Naruto, I'm sorry" the fourth said, a tear rolling down his cheek as he cradled the blond baby. Minato held us finger to the baby, Naruto grasping onto it with his tiny hands. As he did, the Kyuubi's chakra spread through the fourth's body, covering his face rapidly, Minato smiled one last time as it did "You'll always carry your parents love with you, wherever you go, wherever you are... Be happy, my son."

In the distance, the Kyuubi had put out its flaming fur and was clawing the earth, tearing up huge chunks of it wildly. Red chakra leaked out from the nine tails biju as even redder blood leaked out of his wounds. Saliva dripped from its massive jaws, burning like acid through the ground. The fourth and Gamabunta looked on silently as the Kyuubi thrashed about, all sanity haven departed from its body.

"I've pretty much exhausted my chakra reserves, gomen Kushina-chan... Now Kanna!" The fourth said, holding the zanpakuto in one hand and his son in the other.

Inside or outside his head, Minato couldn't tell, but a clear musical voice rang out through the clearing, somehow perfectly clear, even through all the Kyuubi's screaming and thrashing **"Minato-kun..."**

The fourth's katana seemed to scream as numerous cracks appeared on it, until the katana burst into a thousand peices, scattering in the wind like fine silver dust. The dust gathered around the Kyuubi's motionless form, forming six bars of light **"Rikujo Koro(Six Bars of Light Prison)." **The rods of light slammed into the Kyuubi's midsection. The demon lashed out, trying to break free from its prison, frantically clawing and biting the bars of light, to no avail.

As the poison covered the rest of his body turning his skin purple and a deep yellow, Minato made handseals, so fast they appeared to be a blur. Behind him the kanji for mu, meaning nothingness appeared "**Fuin jutsu Saiko: Nagai Mikado(Supreme Sealing Technique: Eternal Emperor)!**" As he said it, a wave of what looked like air or sound erupted from the fourth's katana hilt, spreading out in all directions, passing through everything it came across. As it did, the color of the world inverted, becoming purplish and dark, except for the Yondaime and Naruto. As it did, time seemed to stop. On the other side of the clearing was the Kyuubi, frozen in time, his eyes feral and bloodshot.

**"Namikaze Ryu Ougi:Shiki Fujin(Namikaze-style: Dead Demon Consuming Seal)"**

Seemingly appearing out of nowhere, a ghostly katana struck the Kyuubi dead in the eyes as the Shinigami appeared behind the fourth and then, darkness...

**Flashback Kai!**

"Otou-san..." Naruto whispered, tears falling down his eyes. Not making a sound, Naruto balled his hands into fists.

**"Kit, he was the only ninja alived who could have challenged my might. He knew how tough it would be for you, but he still did it, because he loved Konoha. Personally, I don't care much for this stinking mudpit, but..." **The kyuubi said soberly **"Listen kit, it was great meeting you again, but this is a one time deal. After this...**

Tenten placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder comfertingly. Silently thanking the bun haired kunoichi, Naruto gave his best nice guy pose. Walking over to the Kyuubi's body Naruto placed his hand on his father's sword. Pulling it out, Naruto noticed not a drop of blood stained the gleaming metal "Otou-san..."

**Kit, the reason I brought you two here wasn't just to here this story. Its that sword, 'The Fourth' I'm sure you feel it, its the same kind of sword as your own, a zanpakuto.**

"The fourth!" The moment he pulled out the sword, he put his other hand gingerly on Clare's hilt, as though linking the two swords souls with his body.

Clare, from inside Naruto, felt as if she was surrounded by an another's presence, though she knew it should not have been possible. She felt not a cold, battered sword's blade, but wind that smelled of rosemary, surrounding her body, seeming to carras her cheek. **This sword... I can tell it has been through much hardship and suffering, but I can also tell, the owner cared for it well...** Closing her eyes, the Claymore enjoyed the sweet fragrance of the rustling wind.

Then much to Tenten's suprise, Naruto flicked his father's sword up into the air, deftly catching it by the blade, the blond ninja offered it to the bunhaired girl.

Startled, the weapon's mistress shuffled backwards "W-What are you doing, Naruto-kun?"

"I'm giving it to you" Naruto responded, smiling with his best foxy grin.

"B-But, its your fathers, I couldn't possibly..." Tenten stuttered, like a certain Hyuuga princess.

"I know he'd want you to have it, besides I already have Clare..." Naruto responded in a matter of fact way, thrusting it into her arms.

**Good job kit... I'll miss you.**

The weapon's mistress' first reaction was to give it back to the blond shinobi, but seeing the stubborn but caring look in his blue eyes Tenten knew Naruto wouldn't take no for an answer. Clutching the sword like she'd never let go, Tenten smiled "Thank you Naruto-kun, there's something that I want to give you too. Here."

From her pouch of ninja supplies, the weapon's mistress pulled out a broken sword hilt. Hastilly, Tenten shoved it into Naruto's hands before he could protest.

Realizing what this sword was, Naruto grinned back, "Well thats settled, I guess we should probably get out of here, huh?"

"Also, Naruto... Thanks" Blushing,Tenten embraced the blond genin and kissed him lightly on his whiskered cheek. Then as soon as she had done it, the bun haired girl ran towards the entrance, hiding her blush.

His whiskered cheeks streaked crimson, Naruto stood there stunned, his mouth hung open. His brain processesing the information, the blond ninja yelled "Hey, wait up! Tenten-chan!"

--The next day--

The next day, Haku and Naruto, unable to track down the Zaku or any of the other sound ninja for that matter, had started training by themselves, Tenten nowhere to be found after the Kyuubi incident the previous day.

"So Naruto-sama, what happened to Tenten after that?" Haku asked, as she stood in the middle of one of Konoha's many lakes. Currently, the raven haired beauty was trying to teach Naruto the skill of walking on water, to no avail. To force him to work harder, she had lowered the temperature of the water to near freezing. However this was not helping Naruto's progress much, in fact the only thing it was doing was numbing his whole body. Haku had managed to heal it to only a minor hairline fracture, using her limited medical jutsu, but the blond haired ninja couldn't weild Clare with his right hand. To make up for that, Naruto began training with his weaker, left hand, which was actually beneficial because it would make him more versatile once his other arm did heal.

Naruto walked and walked, slowly but surely sinking once again into the freezing water "Oh you mean Tenten-chan, I d-don't kn-know. A-After we found the K-Kyuubi's body, she said, she want-ted to-to train alone for awhile. She said, she would be back on the day of the finals." Naruto said through chattering teeth.

Inside Haku's mind, a chibi verson of herself, complete with cat ears and a wagging tail, was rolling around on the ground with joy _Yatta! More time to spend alone with Naruto-sama._

"Souka..." Haku whispered to herself, as she lay down on her back on the water's surface as she stared up at the clear blue sky, her clothes not even getting wet.

Naruto stuck out his toungue "Show off." as he sunk into the frigid water, only to float back up, clinging to a large hunk of ice.

Haku hid a laugh with her sleeve "Its not Naruto-sama's fault. My bloodline makes this as easy as breathing, besides I've had much more practice waterwalking than Naruto-sama."

"Yah, yah whatever..." Naruto said as he climbed back tried walking on water once again. Sinking down to his knees Naruto sighed "I wished I had a sensei, who would train me..."

Haku sat up, looking at Naruto with concern "Naruto-sama..."

"I know you're trying your best, Haku-chan, but I don't think Gaara is going to be impressed that I can walk on water." Naruto said, pulling himself out of the water once more onto the bank of the lake, "I need to be able to get past that sand sheild of his, and for that I need more speed and more cutting power." Sitting down on dry land, Naruto sighed.

Haku sat down next to Naruto, using her Hyoton bloodline which allowed her control of wind, water, and ice, the ice mistress pulled the water out of his clothes, depositing it back into the lake and effectively drying his clothes "Listen Naruto-sama, when you fought Gaara-san, you used your tree climbing ability to give you an explosive burst of speed to evade Gaara-san's sand, correct?"

The blond ninja nodded cluelessly, not seeing where she was going with this.

"Naruto-sama, please run a fourty yard dash and use your tree walking skill, Naruto-sama." Haku asked, creating a finish line by drawing a line in the ground and taking out a stop watch from a hidden pocket in her sleeves.

Naruto nodded, they had often done this when he had been in the academy to measure the speed of the students. Getting ready, he applied chakra to the soles of his feet.

"Go!" Haku said, mimicking a gun with her hand.

Naruto ran as fast as he could, his arms behind him flapping in the wind, till he skidded to a stop at the finish line. Panting, Naruto asked "How did I do?"

"4.8 seconds, thats only a little better than average time for a shinobi..." Haku said, clicking her stop watch.

"I see..." Naruto said, his eyes downcast.

"The reason for this is, that you have a super explosive start but after that first second, you're speed lets up. In other words, you can't maintain top speed. Water walking trains you to constantly release chakra at a steady pase, that is partly how I'm able to maintain such a fast speed." Haku explained.

Naruto thought about the battle in the land of the wave. He remembered the way she had moved in her ice mirrors, its was as if time had stopped for her. And... a little part of Naruto thought, even without her ice mirrors, Haku's speed had far surpassed even Kakashi's.

"Speed is an essential skill for a shinobi. It allows them to exercise more control over the enviornment, as well as giving a shinobi the advantage of a premptive or first strike, basically it gives a shinobi the element of suprise, which is a crucial factor in a real battle." Haku continued.

"I get it now Haku-chan thanks, well then I guess I'll get back to training" Naruto said walking back onto the water's surface "But, I really wonder what Tenten-chan is doing right now..."

--

The night before, Tenten had finished setting up camp deep in the mountains, quite a bit away from Konoha, in a valley that seemed to be relativly remote. She had found the peaceful little valley purely by chance as she had hiked by and after seeing its beauty, had decided to spend the night right there. It was quite a beautiful place, full of green plants, flowers, and small game. On one end of the valley was a small waterfall that poured out into a basin. If the bunhaired kunoichi didn't know any better she would have said it was nature itself that had led her there.

That night, as she'd gone to bed, she had found herself in a weird dream, in a weird place. One of those dreams where you know you are in a dream, but didn't know what to do about it. Looking around, her body was the same as ever, but everything around her was different. It was the same valley she'd camped in, but it looked totally different, surreal. Instead of the clear crisp waterfall from before, the water seemed to flow down slow as if Tenten was seeing a bunch of seperate paintings one after another made to seem as if the water was moving. Everything seemed to be drawn in the style of a Japanese ink brush painting(think Okami). The lines were thick and overexaggerated, and the plants, animals, and clouds all seemed to have that same weird inky texture.

"What sort of dream is this?"

Suddenly, a bright light engulfed the entire valley, and from it emerged a beautiful white wolf with red markings on its face, but that wasn't the most remarkable part of him/her, on the wolf's back was a revolving green disk, a mirror, which burned with long red flames, adding to the majesty of the wolf.

And so Tenten had found herself with a new sword, the fourth's replaced by a double sided jian. Her zanpakuto had taken the form of a double edged chinese jian, which was a bit longer than her own arm. The blade was the usual silvery steel color with an odd jagged red line running down the middle of it on both sides. The guard was a simple and unornamented and a red tassle hung from the pommel. The hilt was wrapped in leather and the sheath was so pale a pink, that it was almost white, with golden strappings at the top and bottom.

Going through a kata, Tenten could feel the raw power running through her new sword. It was amazing, unlike any other sword she had held before. The bunhaired weapons mistress had taken Kenjutsu classes and fought with many different swords before, but she seemed to be weilding an extension of her arm rather than a sword. It felt so natural and perfectyly balanced in the palm of her hand.

"I can't wait to show Naruto-kun and that snow girl." Tenten said, "and with this, I'm totally going to win the tournament."

--

The next day, Gai woke up at five in the morning for his daily 500 laps with Lee around the village. Walking on his hands to Lee's house, he knocked on the door with his feet. Hearing no answer, Gai called out "Lee-kun, ikuozo, we'll run five hundred laps with our blazing flames of youth! Lee!"

Getting back on his feet, (literally) Gai was about to bust it down with his super flaming punch of youth, when the bowl cut jonin saw a note hastily scrawled and taped onto the door.

"Hmm, whats this?" Gai asked.

_Dear Gai-sensei,_

_I am sorry for not notifying you earlier, but I am leaving to train. I wish to find my own path to defeat Neji-kun. _

_Please don't try to find me..._

_sincerly, _

_Rock Lee_

_P.S. Please don't worry, I'll be in the valley directly north of the Hokage monument, where the river flows between those two huge statues._

"Lee..." Gai sobbed "Where are youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!"

--

On the other side of the village, near the sand ninja's hotel, Gaara stood on the roof of a giant building with two fish statues. On the other side, was a bandaged sound ninja, his long hair flowing in the rustling wind.

The sand ninja's cold calculating face showed no sign of emotion as he reduced the otoninja to bits and peices with his coffin of sand.

--

It taken a good week for Naruto to master water walking. He was nowhere near Haku's level, but he was starting to be able to run on water, a good improvement for such a small amount of time. The blond haired ninja was just taking a well deserved ramen break when he was visited by a certain snow lady.

"Naruto-sama! I've found the sound training camp, its deeper in the woods, I sensed the genin's chakra signiture there."

Naruto nodded "This is my chance to find out about Zaku's fighting style, I hope he's still there."

The two made there way through the tree tops deep into Konoha's forests, until they suddenly halted.

Hearing noise ahead of them, the two peared through the trees to find a camp crawling with sound shinobi. In the middle of the camp was three large coffins with the kanji for one, two, and four on them.

Putting a finger to her lips, Haku pointed to the coffins. Nodding, Naruto followed the deathly silent ex-hunter ninja.

"So these three brats will be used instead of that useless squad of genin Orochimaru sent to us?" a ninja asked, leaning on a coffin.

"Yah, Kabuto-sama captured the three from the Forest of Death, specifically for this purpose. I heard that two of those genin were killed by the Kazekage's unstable brat," another responded.

"Its a pity, I hear the girl is a Hyuuga. She would fetch a pretty penny if we handed her over to the cloud."

_What! They've got Hinata and the others? _Naruto thought, signaling for the ice mistresses attention with a hand signal, Naruto pointed to the three coffins, then to his headband, Zaku and the other sound genin long forgotten.

Haku's eyes widened in realization. Taking out a senbon, the black haired beauty nodded.

Slowly, Naruto inched closer to the two ninja. Sticking his sandeled foot out slowly, Naruto brought it down. The blond ninja cringed when he heard a crack, signaling he had just stepped on a twig.

"Who's there?" one of the two shouted.

"Kuso!" Naruto said, unsheathing Clare, he quickly blocked the sound chunin's kunai slash. Twisting the smaller knife out of the Oto nin's arms, Naruto struck his squarely with the hilt of his sword, knocking him out cold. Haku disabled the other ninja, throwing senbon into acupuncture points on his arms and legs, effectively paralyzing the sound chunin.

The two took out another two rather clumsy and ill prepared sound ninja coming out of a tent before Naruto could pry open the center coffin. Inside, much to their suprise, was the source of the screaming Naruto had heard earlier, a shivering Hinata, unharmed, but with tears streaming down her cheeks. The lavender eyed girl seemed to be passed out from exhaustion. Naruto struggled to hold the realitevely light girl with his bad hand, until Haku took Hinata from him. Nodding his thanks, Naruto pried open the other two coffins, to find Shino and Kiba along with Akamaru, both of who were in worse condition. Shino's bugs had autimatically filled the cuts and gashes on his body, staunching the bleeding and repairing the skin, however Kiba was not nearly as lucky. The mangy genin had been beaten severly, and dry blood matted the back of his head, from a deep gash near the base.

"Naruto-sama, I will take care of Hyuuga-san and the others, you deal with the rest of these ninja" Haku said, as she set down the three ninja next to each other, in the shade of a nearbye tree. Drawing water out of the air with her bloodline, Haku applied a wet cloth to each of the three's foreheads, checking for other less obvious injuries.

Naruto nodded, it made sense, given that Haku knew medical ninjutsu, while he knew only a basic medical ninjutsu designed to use chakra to staunch wounds, that Haku had only just started to teach him. Besides it was a good chance to try out his new kenjutsu skills.

Suddenly, Naruto ducked and the blond ninja could feel cold steel brushing past his blond hair. Standing opposite him was a black clad oni masked ninja. Attached to gloves on his hands were three long razor claws.

The black clad ninja wheezed, as if suffering from a bad cough "Insolent trash, I will not let you spoil Orochimaru-sama's grand plans..."

"This is Orochimaru's doing?" Naruto said, suprised, while dodging another strike by those serated claws.

_Naruto-sama, this is your chance, after all, training is not complete until results are made known. _Haku thought, disabling another ninja with her senbon.

Flashback no Jutsu!

Naruto was asleep in his futon, Haku under the covers once again, when he found himself inside his mind again. The frozen tundra as desolate as ever. Standing there as usual was Clare, her Claymore at her back.

"Clare, there's been something I've been meaning to ask you about." Naruto said.

"What is it Naruto?" she said, her expression stoic as usual.

"I've been thinking about this for a while, but can we hold off on training for a bit, I want to create my very own jutsu."

As he said that, Naruto could have sworn that he saw a flickering glimpse of what might be mistaken as a smile, but then again, Clare never smiled...

Flashback Kai!

"Now is the time to display the fruit of your training, Naruto-sama " Haku whispered.

"Right!" Naruto said, gripping his sword backhanded, so that when held in front of him, the blade pointed downwards. The blond ninja held it so that it came across horizontally behind his back, and put his other hand into a half ram seal. Closing his eyes, slowly, Naruto's breath became less ragged, and the blond ninja focused a steady stream of chakra towards the soles of his feet and right arm. Then opening his cerulean blue eyes, Naruto dashed forward in a cloud of dust.

"Excellent, he's doing it almost perfectly, I'd say his 40 yard dash has gone from 4.8 to about 4.4, a major difference, though their is still a lot of room for Naruto-sama to improve." Haku thought aloud.

**"Narutoryuu!(Naruto Style) Secret Technique!" **

Naruto rushed foward towards the black clad shinobi, then twisting his body, he brought his sword towards the masked ninja's torso, who blocked using both his steel claws. In a blur of steel, much to the otoninja's suprise, the blurry katana broke through the claws and cut deep into the otonin's torso, causing him to pass out in pain.

"Great speed combined with unblockable strength... Naruto's first kenjutsu..." Haku said, as he watched the blond ninja swing his sword so fast even her eyes had a little difficulty keeping up with it.

**"Gyakudou(Reverse Strike)!"** Naruto yelled, cutting deep into the otoninja's side

Sheathing his blade in the same motion, Naruto muttered "Sorry, but I can't have you guys messing around with my freinds anymore..."

As the ninja's body began to fall slowly, a huge gust of wind towards the two. At the last second, Naruto dodged, the wind grazing his body, causing crimson blood to trickle down his whiskered cheek. In front of him was a tanned man with long black hair that went to his shoulders, his hands and body, hidden by a plain flowing black cape, a sound hiate on his forehead, marking his allegiance. Wind seemed to visabily swirl around his feet, blowing his cape.

"Hold it bozu(kid)! I am the former guardian of the north Oto gate, The Black Wind, Kuro no Kaze!" the man brushed a stray lock of hair from his face, smirking "surely you've heard of me, I am quite infamous in the leaf village..."

"Whoa that's an awesome cape. Neh, neh, old man, where'd you get it?" Naruto asked, his eyes turning into stars.

The elder man sweatdropped "Insolent brat! I am the great Kuro no Kaze, have some respect!"

Naruto scratched his head, sheepish "Sorry, ji-san..."

"Ji-san!" the man screamed indignately, a vein popping in his forehead "Thats it boy, you're dead meat..."

The man vanished in a blur, knocking Naruto with a powerful kick to the side of the head "I told you not to underestimate me, gaki..."

Kaze smirked until he saw the orange ninja stand back up, suprisingly unharmed. Suprise broke out on his face, but soon was replaced with the same taunting arrogence "Ahh, I see, you blocked my kick with your blade at the last moment, eh gaki?"

"So what if I did? And quit calling me that!" Naruto said, running up to the cloak wearing ninja. The fox jinchiruki drew his katana back and slashed at Kaze, who evaded skillfully, Clare not even scratching the otonin's mantle.

"Kuso!" Naruto yelled, swinging his sword again and again, only to have the older man effortlessly dodge his strikes again and again. Dodging yet, Kaze backflipped in the air, into a sitting position on a branch. Much to Naruto's anger, Kaze yawned crassly, stretching.

"Quit messing around!" Naruto yelled as he chased the elder man around the clearing, hacking away with his sword, to no avail.

Suddenly, the laughing sound ninja's eyes became deathly serious, "Of course, gaki..." he said as he disappeared, kicking the blond shinobi in the gut and knocking him with another quick kick, forward into the air. Then running after the fox container, his arm outstetched the sound ninja yelled "**Uchi-kudaku Ude Toppu (Shattering Arm Blast)!" **clothslining Naruto and slamming him into a tree,

Then Kaze gathered wind chakra in the form of a blade on the outside of his arms, **"Kaze no Yaiba(Blade of wind)!"** and threw the blade at Naruto, creating a small explosion"Fight me seriously or you'll wind up dead!."

"Naruto-sama!" Haku screamed, concerned for her master.

Suddenly, Naruto burst out of the crater at full speed, spinning to avoid another wind blade, Naruto dashed behind the black cloaked ninja. Just as he was about to swing his sword through Kaze's neck, Naruto hesitated. "Ninja can't hesitate like that on the battlefield, gaki..." and Kaze kneed him in the gut faster than even Haku, and threw him into the ground.

"Come on, gaki fight me at full strength... I know from Orochimaru-sama, that you can use that swords power" the black haired shinobi said, sending the blond ninja flying once again with a vicous kick.

Haku reached into her sleeve, taking out three senbon, she threw the needles at Kaze. The sound ninja dodged seemed to dodge in midair, the needles bouncing harmlessly of his steel boots.

Rebounding off the trunk of a tree, Naruto jumped into the air, cleaving the ground Kaze was a second ago.

"This ninja might be too much for Naruto-sama" Haku remarked

"Of course, my name's not just for show, I have a strong affinity for the wind." Kaze remarked with a touch of arrogance"Using regular chakra to try to match my wind chakra in a contest of speed is pointless..."

Haku's jaw clenched involuntarily, her hand becoming a fist "Naruto-sama allow me t-"

"Thanks Haku-chan, but I'll win this one by myself, you go get Hinata and the others to the hospital, alright?" Naruto interupted.

"I've got too help Na... No, I believe in Naruto-sama." Haku said as she performed another healing jutsu, her hands glowing pink as she sealed up a gash in the back of Kiba's head.

A lump formed in Haku's throat as she realized the kind of danger her master would be in fighting an unknown high class ninja. It was very likely that Naruto could end up dead now that he did not have the Kyuubi to help him. Still, Haku nodded, picking up the three ninja and vanishing into a demonic ice mirror. Though she was worried, to challange a direct order from her master was a shame worse than death. To disobey meant that she did not have faith in Naruto, that she did not believe in her master's abilities, and an outward sign of that would definitly ruin any chance her master had for victory as well as wreck his confidence.

"Tell me, ji-san why are you helping that bastard Orochimaru! Don't you have any shame?" Naruto asked.

"I do gaki! I'm ashamed that I haven't been able to get my opponent to fight with everything he has" the ninja responded "There's nothing more embarresing than that! To not be taken seriously as an opponent! To be shown mercy!"

"I really don't like pointless fighting, but fine if thats the only way you're going to have it... **Okiro(Awaken) Clare**" and Naruto's eyes became deep gold, and his sword became an elegant double edged claymore.

"Thats it gaki, now, come at me..."

--

_Orochimaru-sama... I knew, that once you had developed the curse seal level two form, you wouldn't need your previous experiments... Damn bastard... _Kaze thought as darkness rushed to claim him.

_What happened..._ Kaze thought, opening his eyes, he found his wound had closed _I'm alive..._

"I closed up your cuts. I'm not a medical ninja but you seem like an alright guy so, I didn't want to let you die..." Naruto said, giving the V for victory sign "but, can I ask you one thing? Why are you doing this? Why are you following Orochimaru?"

"Most of us sound ninja follow Orochimaru because we have no place else to go..." Kaze said, still lying in pain on the ground "Though many of the sound act blood thirsty and aloof, its because we have no home, no family, no ties to this world..."

"I see..."

"Do you know what its like?" Kaze asked, a tear running down his cheek "To leave this world, to die, and leave no one behind? No one puts flowers by a missing ninja's grave, no one pours sake over a missing ninja's grave, no one is saddened by a nameless ninja's death..."

"I don't understand!" Naruto yelled, clenching his fists "Orochimaru, all he does is destroy things! He won't get you flowers, that teme wouldn't do any of that for you!"

Kaze smiled wryly, his words dripping with irony and sarcasm "We don't follow Orochimaru because he gives us flowers, baka! We follow him because he has power..."

Naruto leaned against the tree, thinking about Sasuke's desire for power "Is power really that important?"

"Of course it is Gaki! Power is the most important thing in this world!" Kaze explained "To us missing ninja who dwell in darkness... Orochimaru-sama was the bright sun. We were drawn to him like moths to a flame. He promised us, we would become strong enough so that we could live without fear."

Suddenly, like fire, the cursed seal spread around his body, and in an instant the black cloaked ninja sprung to his feet and created blades of pure wind in both of his hands, slashing the blond ninja across the torso.

"W-Why..." Naruto asked.

"This time, I won't make that mistake again" Kaze said as the wind that billowed out of his cape turned black, swirling around him "Behold, the black wind, that my chakra becomes when the cursed seal is active, Kuro no Kaze!"

"Why?" Naruto asked again, clutching his bleeding stomach.

"Do you know what it's like to be on top of the mountain, gaki?" he asked

When Naruto gave no response, Kaze continued "Of course not, but I'll tell you... Its the best. It may come with a terrible price, but the view is unforgettable.. After its been wretched away from you, then you do everything possible to get it back, or die trying..."

Naruto barely dodged another of Kaze's wind blades, blood still flowing "I don't understand ji-san..."

Kaze appeared behind Naruto, kicking him for what seemed the millionth time, face first into the dirt "When Orochimaru-sama first developed the cursed seal from one of his prisoners genes, it was still imperfect, but in order to boost the origional sound four's power, we were all given the imperfect seal. It gave a significant boost in power and speed, but it lacked one thing, cursed seal level two..."

"There's a level two?" Naruto asked, shocked.

"Yes, along with genetic mutations, it offers a huge boost in both chakra and power, however, it was almost unreachable in the primitive state of the first cursed seals, like the one I bear..." Kaze said, lowering his cape's high collar to show a honeycomb shaped seal.

"To further mimic Jugo, the orgion of the cursed seal, Orochimaru altered the seal and developed a new drug, which when used with the new seal, caused a massive reduction in the time it took to attain level two..." Kaze smiled, his lips twisted in irony as he continued "However, the old sound four had already received cursed seals and no mortal, not even Orochimaru himself could survive two seals. So when the newer ninja were marked with the advanced curse seal, they quickly overpowered the old regime of gatekeepers, making us obsolete..."

"Whoa..." Naruto whispered, half in shock, as he listened to Kaze's story.

"So, we were demoted from our positions as the strongest in the sound village. Instead of accompanying Orochimaru-sama personally, I am here guarding this tiny camp in the middle of nowhere." Kaze said spitefully "If I defeat you at full strength, then surely Orochimaru-sama will acknowledge my worth and give me back my old position..."

"You'd do all this just for some stupid title?" Naruto asked.

Kaze shrugged,"Hey the only reason you're a ninja is so you can become hokage..."

"Urusai(shut up)," Naruto yelled, activating the quicksword, slashing apart the ground Kaze was a second ago.

"No matter how sharp the blade, if it misses by a fraction of a hair, then the blade is useless..." Kaze said from above Naruto. Spinning like top, Kaze thrust his leg out, intent on smashing Naruto's face. The blond ninja blocked with his sword, only to find an explosion of crushing wind pressure bare down on him. Gritting his teeth, Naruto threw the elder ninja off his sword. Smirking, Kaze twisted his body in the air, and landed perfectly on a low tree branch, not a hair out of place.

Naruto ran towards Kaze his sword in front of him. Just as the blond ninja was about to swing his sword, the black cloaked sound ninja caught Clare with his bare hand. Then wretching the zanpakuto from his hands, Kaze kneed the boy in the stomach. As Naruto gasped for air, lightning fast, Kaze kicked the boy again, knocking him several meters away "No matter how swift the blade, if you cannot weild it properly, then cutting is impossible..."

"This guy, he can manipulate the wind chakra so well, he doesn't even need jutsu" Naruto grunted as he was blown away by another blast of wind.

Gasping for air, Naruto stepped out of the crater made by Kaze's kick. Naruto gripped his sword backhanded once again, readying himself for the Gyakudou. Putting his right foot in front, he crouched a bit. Then adding chakra to his feet, Naruto exploded towards Kaze.

Laughing hautily, Kaze readied himself, his curse mark burning like fire "Come on gaki, I'll defeat every, single, one of your moves, and prove I'm the strongest..."

"Alright then, here goes nothing, **Gyakudou(Reverse Motion)**!" and Naruto repeated the same motion that had nearly killed another ninja moments ago.

"Hmph, too slow" Just as Naruto was about to connect, Kaze ducked under Naruto's blade, punching the blond ninja in the stomach, an explosion of wind chakra passing through Naruto's body and out the other side, like one of Neji's jyuuken palm strikes.

Naruto just stared and stared into open space, as time stopped for a moment.

"I'm sorry Gaki..." Kaze said, withdrawing his arm "but letting me see your technique once was your downfall..."

Naruto coughed up blood as Kaze's arm retreated. Lacking support, the blond jinchiruki slumped to the ground, not moving.

**"Naruto get up! This fight's not over yet!" **Clare yelled, her face becoming slightly monstrous from the massive amount of Yoki she was expelling.

As Naruto stood up, his chakra changed from its normal pale bluish color, instead it becoming white with a tint of purple, and began pouring out from the boy, pooling around his feet.

"This is wind chakra! That kid, he hid it from me" Kaze said, impressed by the sheer amount.

"I'm not done yet..." Naruto whispered his now blue eyes betraying his exhaustion and pain.

"Excellent Gaki!" Kaze laughed "I never expected to fight such a wonderful opponent in this pit of hell!"

Kaze readied himself, his black wind chakra flaring around him"Come at me, bwa-ha-ha-ha-...!"

"Kaze!" Naruto yelled running towards Kaze, the white wind chakra encasing the blond ninja, his eyes becoming gold once again.

"Gaki!" Kaze said, running at the blond ninja, his black wind chakra, becoming an aura around him.

The two met at the center of the clearing, creating a maelstrom of black and white winds. The two feirce winds circled around each other, uprooting whole trees in the process.

As suddenly as it came, the dome of swirling wind died down and vanished. Doubled over, but still standing in the middle of the crater was Kaze, panting hard, his eyes shut. Before him was an unconcious Naruto, his sword reverting back into a katana. Seeing the unconcious blond teenager, Kaze laughed.

The sound ninja laughed and laughed, his voice resounding hollowly in the empty clearing, drunk with his victory. The sound ninja brought up a tanned hand to his face, whiping away some sweat. The black cloaked ninja looked at his hand, to his shock he saw blood coating it. Kaze laughed as his vision turned crimson and a large cut erupted from his shoulder, blood spurting out of it.

Laughing weakly, as darkness rushed to meet him Kaze thought, _Good one, gaki..._

--

(1)-rin, -tan: these suffixes are not as widly known as chan, san, kun, sama, dono. These are basically used to make a person's name sound cute. In Japan, teenage girls who want their names to sound cuter attach rin or tan onto their names, so instead of Miyuki, they'd be called Miyuki-rin. Naruto is calling Kyuubi, Kyuubi-rin or Kyuubi-tan because its obviously inappropriate for Naruto to be calling a thousand year old demonic monster something you would call a cute high school girl. Its similar to Flay calling Kurogane Kuro-tan in Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles (which by the way is the most confusing anime, ever).

--

**Zanpakuto review**

**Kanna(Godless World)!- **Zanpakuto name

**Musou(shut out all earthly thoughts)- **activation trigger

abilities:Allows user to create formulas for a seal on the spot, augmenting his fighting abilites to the point he doesn't need paper for the seals. This sword makes the Hiraishin, the Shiki Fujin, and all the others possible.

Spirit-?

Bankai-?

--

**Rasengan**-The Spiraling Sphere is a technique invented by the fourth after three years of development. It requires a very high level of chakra control. The Spiraling Sphere incorporates the chakra control learned from the tree-climbing and water-walking exercises to create a ball of concentrated, spinning chakra in the user's hand that is slightly larger than a baseball.

The Spiraling Sphere requires no hand seals to perform, instead relying entirely on the chakra control of the user. Once the user creates a stable Spiraling Sphere, however, it becomes self-sustaining, so the user does not need to provide any more chakra after forming it. The force of the spinning chakra grinds into whatever it touches, causing major damage. The force of the attack also causes significant internal injury. The user can also release the spinning chakra, creating a violent explosive force at the point of contact. The one drawback of the Spiraling Sphere, if it can be considered as such, is that it requires great chakra control. Of course, this will not be a drawback if the user has learned the technique, because they already possess the necessary chakra control. It can be a problem if some force is disrupting the user's ability to mold chakra. Unlike the chidori, there is no definite limit to the amount of times this technique can be used in a day. Because it uses far less chakra in comparison, it doesn't carry the same over-use risk as the One Thousand Birds, either. It is a multipurpose technique, meaning that it can be applied to many different situations, for example Naruto uses it to escape a whirlpool's current, while on a boat Jiraiya uses the Rasengan to outrun ninjas chasing the two, and Naruto uses it to evenly mix his ramen, making it much more versitile than the chidori as well.

**Kuchiyose no Jutsu(Summoning technique)-**The user must first sign a summoning contract, then the user offers a small amount of blood and performs a number of seals, and a familiar is summoned. Three ninja famous for their summons are Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru, the great Sannin.

"**Katon: Gamayu Endan no Jutsu!"(Fire element: toad fire bullet) **gamabunta or another frog is summoned, then simultaneously the user and the frog shoot a glob of oil like a bullet and a large flame to make a huge fire bullet.

**Fuuton: Gama Kuushuu (Wind Release: Toad Air Raid)**-Another combination technique with a toad summon. Gamabunta or another frog is summoned and then simultaneously, the two shoot wind, oil, and water like bullets at their opponent(s). Though it is weaker than the Gamayu Endan, it is around twenty times faster and covers a wider area than its brother technique.(think of the two as Yusuke's shotgun vs his Rei/spirit gun)

**Shakunetsu Hi no Arashi(Blazing Fire Storm)-**Minato uses his **Katon: Karyuu Saikou Kyuuzou(Fire Release: Fire Dragon Supreme Explosion) **and breathes a stream of fireand uses the **Daitoppa(Great Breakthrough) **to increase the flame's power, creating a flaming tornado.

**Senran Tōsei(Battle Wind Sword Strike)-**The user channels wind chakra to the tip of a pointed object till it is literally pouring out of the metal, then it is released in the form of the blade. It is an advanced form of the **Kaze no Yaiba** technique.

**Doton: Doryuheki(Earth Release: Earth Style Wall)-**the user creates a thick wall made out of compacted earth. It is a fairly solid defense, but because in only blocks in front of the user it can be overcome by omnidirectional attacks.

**Messatsu Gou Rasen(Magnificent Spiral Destroyer)- **this is one of the many advanced variations of the rasengan. The user creates a larger, thicker shell and inserts vast amounts of chakra into it. Then, the chakra is compressed and spinned at super high speeds, until the inside resembles small black hole. This Rasengan's advantage is that its intense gravity can suck up and and nullify most range attacks.

**Rasengan Senpuuken(Spiral Sphere Blade)- **The user creates the basic rasengan, then it is spun horizontally till it resembles a disk, only a few millimeters thick, spinning like a tornado, increasing the cutting power exponentially. It is much more complicated to preform than the regular rasengan because of the unnatural shape of the shell. It can be thrown like a frisbee and controlled with the user's hand movements.

**Kaze no Yaiba (Blade of Wind)** – Comparably more complicated than the Daitoppa in that the user concentrates chakra into the form of wind into their hand, and then manipulating its shape into that of a crescent or scimitar. As a Fuuton jutsu, it is very dangerous because of its natural sharpness and origin. The user can spawn off more of the blades, so that even when one happens to be deflected, another can quickly take its place. In addition, the blade can be swung or thrown, making it a fairly versatile jutsu for both short and long ranges.

**Gyakudou(Reverse Motion)**-Naruto's first original kenjutsu move. It combines the water walking, tree climbing, and kenjutsu training from Clare. Naruto channels chakra into his arm and legs, then he exploded towards the opponent with his sword held backhanded behind him. Then as Naruto rushes forward he brings his sword forwards and into the opponents left side, cutting through their ribs. This technique uses chakra to give him the burst of speed and arm strength needed to do this in an instant, giving it both unblockable strength and unavoidable speed. Unfortunately, this technique requires little wind resistance to take full advantage of its speed. Kaze is able to dodge this attack because in released form, Clare takes the form of a Claymore. Therefore it is not only heavier, but carries more wind resistance, making it less effective.

--

How was this chapter, please review. I hope you liked the fourth and the Kyuubi's battle, this is the kind of epic battle, super power vs super power, insane jutsu everywhere, I'd like to do in the future, not right away of course, but later on in the story because too much of this, gets old fast, like Confucious says, everything in moderation.

I tried to make the fourth's sword unique, instead of a purely offensive Zanpakuto. Its more of an assist type Zanpakuto, it augments his abilities instead of giving him new ones. The fourth was known as a sealing master and this kind of Zanpakuto explains just how he was able to create the Shiki Fujin, Hiraishin, etc. Also, in all the fanfictions I've ever read, I've never seen a whole recreated battle between the fourth and the Kyuubi, so I decided to make one, even though I guess it wasted most of a chapter.

I still haven't received a whole lot of output on your guys part. I guess I'm still not sure if I'm going to give Naruto a sensei and even if I do, I'm not sure if I can make a good OC. I've never really liked OC heavy fics because I can't remember who is who, they don't usually have any defining characteristics, so I want to put one in here that is interesting to me (and hopefully to you too.)

On a side note, "Kuro no Kaze" is a tribute to one of the best former fanfiction writers, blackwindkaze, who has left fanfiction for good. To surpass his story, black destiny, is my goal. I basically used the fighting style of blackwindkaze's OC "Kaze" and combined him with Doronddi from the Privaron Espada, one of the more unique characters in my opinion, especially gived the short amount of screen time he was given.

I've also been thinking about rewriting my story over from the beggining, just taking all the chapters, condensing, correcting, and fleshing out some bits and reposting it. I've been rereading my story and almost every chapter I think to myself, I had a great idea here, but then I didn't know how to finish it, so it ended crappy. I never plan out my chapters, except for maybe a rough sketch, so at the end of a lot of chapters, I didn't know how to finish the scene, so they ended up crappy. I think, that I also didn't flesh out Naruto and Tenten's relationship, Naruto and Haku relationship(especially since she wasn't even in the pairing for the first seven to ten chapters), and Tenten and Haku's rivalry. I feel like I should have done better... so I've been thinking about rewriting it, but it'll probably take quite awhile to get all my thoughts straightened out and whatnot, if I do decide to do it. Anyone who's followed this story, give me some feeback, yes or no, much appreciated.

Review please, I'll take original jutsu, well thought out OC's, plot ideas, etc. If I think they're interesting, I'll include them in this fic and I'll give you credit for them. Thanks again from Heero.

Next chapter the long awaited chunin exam finals!

To be continued...


	13. Performance of Sword

"Hmm, Naruto-sama, what is this?" Haku asked, uncovering a paper written in Naruto's chicken scratch calligraphy, while cleaning out Naruto's small desk full of assorted garbage, crumpled papers, and ramen cups.

"Oh, that, thats nothing, nothing at all" Naruto stammered, trying to pull the paper out of the raven haired woman's hands.

"Ooo, let me see" Tenten chimed in.

For a few seconds, the brown ninja read, then exclaimed "I know what this is!"

"No you don't" Naruto stammered, still trying to take the paper from the bunhaired kunoichi.

"Yes I do its the paper Iruka-sensei made us write in our first year of ninja academy about what we wanted to be when we grew up" Tenten explained.

"I said that I wanted to surpass Tsunade and become a great kunoichi" the bunhaired girl continued.

"Thats interesting, but when I think about it, writing a paper on a topic like this... for ninja training... Its pretty stupid..." Haku commented in an offhanded sort of way.

"Now that I think about it, it really doesn't have anything to do with being a ninja" Naruto and Tenten concurred.

"Read it anyway," Tenten said, her voice betraying her excitement.

"Why bother, its probably all going to be about his dream of being hokage" Shikamaru commented as he opened the door to Naruto's apartment.

"Huh, Team eight? What are you guys here for?" Tenten asked.

"(sigh) Even though its troublesome, we came to give Naruto back his giant Kakashi training dummy" Shikamaru responded, jabbing his thumb towards Choji as he brought in the said dummy.

"Didn't I lend that to Mega Fuzzy Brows?" Naruto asked.

"Yah, we happened to meet him near here, and that bothersome woman offered to take it to him, which is why Choji and I are carrying it" Shikamaru responded in his 'its such a drag' voice.

"Hey what are you reading?" Choji asked, setting down the dummy and pulling out a bag of chips.

"Its Naruto's essay, the one about what he wants to be when he grows up" Tenten explained.

"Ooo let me see!" Ino chimed in.

"I'll read it aloud" Clearing her throat, Haku read aloud "My name is Uzumaki Naruto.

In the ninja academy, they all call me dead last, no good, Naruto baka."

Sweat started appearing on the back of Naruto's head and continued to grow and get bigger as Haku went on.

"They say I'm a disgrace to the village, the worst shinobi ever, and the scourge of mankind..." Haku continued.

Tenten sweatdropped.

"They may call me that, but Iruka-sensei says that even if I'm a no good trouble making brat now, I can change." Haku read off the page

"I think so too, so I want to be a giant crimefighting robot when I grow up, the end" Haku finished.

With the exception of Haku, everyone in the room, including Naruto sweatdropped.

"Wow, that was... interesting" Ino said, hesitantly, trying to break the silence.

"Yah, er interesting" Choji agreed.

The rain cloud on top of Naruto's head turned into a thunderstorm, as depression sunk in, _Oh man, they're all going to think I'm an idiot..._

"Thats so cute!" Haku said, smiling geniunly at the blond jinchiruki.

Naruto sweatdropped even more, hearing a girl he kinda liked, tell him his dream as a child was cute.

_Oh man, my stupidity is showing... _Naruto thought.

"Naruto, (giggle) I don't mean to bring this up, but your stupidity is showing" Tenten whispered to the blond ninja.

_It kinda pisses me off to here someone else say it..._ Naruto thought inwardly.

"That was beautiful Naruto-kun, (sniffle) especially the 'giant' part" Lee cried, wiping the stream of tears with his bandages.

Suddenly, everyone in the room turned to the spandex clad ninja.

"Lee, when did you get here?" Ino asked.

"And when are you going back?" Shikamaru added.

"Shikamaru!" Ino scolded, obviously annoyed. Without a second thought, the blond girl, smacked the pineapple head ninja lightly on the side of the head

"What a drag" Shikamaru sighed, as Choji chuckled silently, taking another chip from a bag and eating it.

"Well, I was just doing my regular four hundred laps around Konoha, when on my three hundred and fourty seventh, I heard everyone assembling in this Naruto's apartment, and I rushed over here to renew the flames of my youth" Lee cried "Youth!"

"Youth" Gai cried, breaking the segment of one of the walls to Naruto's apartment "Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

This time everyone in the room sweatdropped.

"Someone's going to pay for this wall right?" Naruto asked.

"Youth!" the two beasts of Konoha screamed as everyone but Tenten and Haku began to filter out of the rather cramped apartment.

"Seriously, someone's going to pay for this right?" Naruto asked, Haku and Tenten.

Silently, the two patted the blond ninja's shoulders and left the apartment, leaving Naruto alone.

"Seriously, guys?" Naruto said, this time a little louder "Guys!"

Naruto sighed "Why me?"

**Author's Note:**Hey guys, sorry it took so long to update, really. Its been almost a year since I've updated. I blame no one but myself, my school, and Kishimoto. Myself for being lazy, my school for lots of papers, and Kishimoto for making the last fourty or fifty something chapters about Sasuke. Honestly, all this attention on him and the lack of scenes with Naruto in it have just made me really uninspired. In truth, I finished writing this chapter like two months ago, but I wanted to wait till I finished the rewrite, which is now done.

Some chapters have been lengthened, some cut, some new parts added. I think it makes the story less choppy, but at the same time I like choppy manga, like XXXholic or Mirai Nikki, where it cuts off in abrupt parts which sort of jostles you and makes you wonder. I recommend rereading Descending Heaven again or reading the summaries, so you don't miss to much, but its your choice. Well either way, I hope you like this all new chapter. As always please read and review, especially any plot holes I might have missed when I rewrote the story, thanks.

**Summary: **In the last chapter, Naruto and Tenten uncovered the grave of the Kyuubi. The Kyuubi using the last of its strength, showed the two its final fight with the Fourth, revealing Naruto's heritage and revealing the zanpakuto of his father. Naruto decides to give his father's heirloom to Tenten in order to replace her broken sword. Tenten in gratitude leaves to train in the wilderness before the chunin exams. Meanwhile, Naruto and Haku work on water walking. After a week of intense training, Naruto is able to master the technique, allowing him to create his very own kenjutsu technique, the Gyakudou. While training, Naruto discovered team ten had been captured and set off to find them. Deep in the Konoha forests, Haku and Naruto discovered a sound shinobi camp. Using their combined skills they subdued most of the shinobi. Inside, they are able to find Hinata and her teammates, inside the coffins. Just as they are about to exit, a masked ninja blocks their path. Using the Gyakudou, Naruto is able to defeat him, however another sound ninja, the former guardian of the north gate, Kuro no Kaze, intervenes. Using his wind chakra enhanced super speed, he easily overpowers Naruto until Naruto fights back using his shikai. After regaining conciousness, Kaze attempts to attack again, this time with his cursed seal. In response, Naruto attacks again with both his shikai awakening and the Gyakudou, however it is evaded at the last second by Kaze. Just when Kaze is about to finish off Naruto, the blond ninja starts to emit a white chakra, wind chakra, in a style similar to Kaze's black wind chakra. Barely concious Naruto commits his entire chakra reserves to one final attack. The two winds collide at top speed, destroying the clearing and creating a huge dome of black and white wind. When the maelstrom finally clears, Kaze finds Naruto unconcious, but just as the sound ninja was about to walk away, a huge cut erupts from his shoulder, and the two shinoibi pass out.

--

Only the worthiest of flowers bloom in the dessert.

Quickly, Clare swung her claymore at the injured yoma, and with one smooth movement, the beast was awestruck as purple blood seeped out slowly first, before a fountain of purple liquid sprayed out from the beast.

She stopped her movement, and turned around, reflecting silently on what she had just done, while the townspeople just stood in awe by the incrediable display of skill they had just witnessed. A foul corpse now lay before their eyes, a monster who no longer move with its body now severed in two, now lay in a pool of purple blood and urine.

"Soon, a man in black shall come and collect ..." Clare was about to say, but the pale eyed woman paused, and instead, walked silently away from the accursed place.

--

As Naruto stood up, his chakra changed from its normal pale bluish color, instead it becoming white with a tint of purple, and began pouring out from the boy, pooling around his feet.

"I'm not done yet..." Naruto whispered his blue eyes betraying his exhaustion and pain.

"Excellent Gaki!" Kaze laughed "I never expected to fight such a wonderful opponent in this pit of hell!"

Kaze readied himself, his black wind chakra flaring around him"Come at me, bwa-ha-ha-ha-...!"

"Kaze!" Naruto yelled running towards Kaze, the white wind chakra encasing the blond ninja.

"Gaki!" Kaze said, running at the blond ninja, his black wind chakra, becoming an aura around him.

The two met at the center of the clearing, creating a maelstrom of black and white winds. The two feirce winds circled around each other, uprooting whole trees in the process.

As suddenly as it came, the dome of swirling wind died down and vanished. Doubled over, but still standing in the middle of the crater was Kaze, panting hard, his eyes shut. Before him was an unconcious Naruto, his sword reverting back into a katana. Seeing the blond ninja Kaze laughed.

The sound ninja laughed and laughed, his voice resounding hollowly in the empty clearing, drunk with his victory. The sound ninja brought up a tanned hand to his face, whiping away some sweat. The black cloaked ninja looked at his hand, to his shock he saw blood coating it. Kaze laughed as his vision turned crimson and a large cut erupted from his shoulder, blood spurting out of it.

Laughing weakly, as darkness rushed to meet him Kaze thought, _Good one, gaki..._

--

Naruto woke up in a fit, adrenaline rushing through his veins from the fight he had seen, as clear as if he were right there watching it "W-What just happened?"

Then the blond ninja looked up and saw a white ceiling. Breathing deeply to calm himself, he noticed a too-clean almost stifling smell, and he could hear faint whiring fans, circulating dead air through the room.

"The hospital" Naruto concluded, flopping back down on his bed "again..."

"Naruto-sama, you are awake" a voice said devoid of emotion, enough to tell the blond ninja, that it belonged toHaku.

Naruto looked around the room, checking the windows, his bedside table, and under his blanket before finally asking "Haku-chan, where are you?"

In a swirl of water, wind, and smoke, Haku appeared kneeling before Naruto's bedside, her body bent so much that her long black hair touched the ground "My deepest apologies, I've failed you Naruto-sama"

"Haku what are you doing? Get up" Naruto asked.

"I don't deserve to be your servent Naruto-sama, I failed to protect you once again..." Haku said, still not looking at Naruto.

"Its ok Haku-chan, really." Naruto told the girl, waving his hands in front of him.

"No its not, you could have died..." Haku yelled, almost hysterically, tears coming down her eyes "Naruto-sama, if you died, I-"

Naruto could tell from her red eyes she'd been beating herself up over it for quiet awhile. Caringly, the blond ninja placed his hand on Haku's head and ruffled her hair a bit. When the ice ninja looked up as if questioning Naruto, the fox jinchiruki, in a very unNaruto-like fashion, the raven haired teen's delicate chin with his hand and brought her puffy red eyes up to his clear blue ones.

"I'll never abandon any of my precious ones" Naruto said, his voice serious "that includes you Haku-chan, understand?"

"Hai, Naruto-sama" Haku responded, wiping the tears from her face"I understand"

"Good... besides I'm the idiot who tried to take on that guy by myself" Naruto said grinning his fox grin.

"Naruto-sama..."

"Daijobu(don't worry), Haku-chan, I don't die that easy..." Naruto continued, giving the thumbs up sign.

"Hai, arigato, Naruto-sama..."

--

Soon thereafter, Naruto was released from the hospital in full health. After a few short weeks of training the chunin exam had finally arrived for all the contestants. Two months had passed since the beggining of the chunin exams. It seemed the morning arrived almost too soon for its applicants. That fateful morning, the tension in the stadium could be clearly felt by all the contestants, that is... except Naruto.

"Damn it I overslept!" Naruto screamed in his apartment, jumping out of bed "Haku why didn't you wake me!"

"Hmm, what?" Haku mumbled, still clutching onto Naruto's chest.

"Ahh, Haku-chan, what are you doing in my futon?" Naruto asked.

""Hmm, warm..." Haku mumbled.

"And more importantly, what did I do last night!" Naruto asked almost hysterically, hands covering his eyes "No we couldn't have..."

Slowly through his fingers, the blond ninja peeked at the state Haku's clothes were in.

_Her hairs all ruffled and messy, not a good sign..._

Slowly, Naruto's eyes slid down Haku's body from her cute face, to the alabastor skin of her throat.

_No hicky marks, good sign..._

_Her yukata is still mostly on..._ Naruto thought, his eyes lingering for a second on the black haired woman's assets. She was a very healthy B-cup and still growing if he was any judge of it.

Come to think of it, ever since Haku had started sleeping over at Naruto's apartment, she had taken to removing the bindings over her chest, wearing them only during missions so they did not impede her fighting ability. Even after all this time living together, seeing 'them', still gave Naruto a strange jolt, that he wasn't entirely comfortable with.The raven haired beauty had said it was because that they were becoming too confining for her, but Naruto secretly knew it was just to aggravate him.

Shaking his head clear of such thoughts, Naruto continued his peeking. His eyes ran down the sleeping ice kunochi's well toned legs and soft curvy thighs, _just a little more..._ until finally he arrived at his destination. Hesitantly, Naruto slightly moved one of his fingers from his eyes. Slowly, he opened his eye halfway, then all the way open.

Naruto gave a big sigh of relief. Through the corner of his eye, he could tell, Haku was wearing plain white panties under her yukata, a sign they didn't do anything Tenten'd make them regret later "Yatta! Panties!"

On the other hand, Haku was wearing only panties. Suddenly Naruto's face contorted, and a small trickle of blood ran down his nose.Staunching the blood with a tissue, Naruto gently shook the girl awake "Haku, what are you doing in my futon again!".

"Ano... Gomen Naruto-sama, I-I don't know what came over me. Its just I was feeling really cold, and you were so warm, so I decided to lay down next to you for awhile, but before I knew it, I fell asleep" Haku apologized.

"Arrg Haku" Naruto half whined under his breath, frustrated.

"Gomen nasai, Naruto-sama, I forget my place..." Haku apologized again this time with puppy dog eyes and pouty lips, "I won't do it ever again."

"(sigh) Thats ok Haku-chan, just ask me next time before you do it ok?" Naruto sighed.

"Of course Naruto-sama!" Haku responded happily.

As Haku took her leave of the bedroom, Naruto could have sworn he heard the raven haired woman giggle.

Naruto sighed again. He really hated it when she pulled the super sorry, puppy dog eyes trick on him. Sometimes it made him wonder, just who was the master, and who was the servent. Quickly packing his ninja gear, and grabbing a cup ramen, Naruto left for the stadium the chunin exams were being held in, a whimsical Haku close behind.

--

"Listen here brats" Genma ordered.

Among the genin there were Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, Lee, Neji, Shikamaru, and bringing up the rear, Naruto. The sound ninja, Sasuke and Tenten were still acounted for.

"Because of an unfortunate incident involving a rogue ninja squad, all three sound ninja have been disqualified. In addition, Kankuro has forfeited. Taking into account the sound ninja's disqualification and Kankuro's forfeit, the new matches will be...

It will be Hyuuga Neji vs Rock Lee

Sabaku no Temari vs Ame Tenten

Uzumaki Naruto vs Uchiha Sasuke

Nara Shikamaru vs Sabaku no Gaara

"And the first match will be Uzumaki Naruto versus Uchiha Sasuke" Genma, the new proctor announced to the crowd.

Suddenly Naruto appeared running through the crowd and landing on the rail of the stadium. The blond ninja was wearing his orange jacket like a cape with the sleeves waving in the wind, underneath was a dark green shirt with a red konoha symbol on it. On his hip, attached by a black leather belt was Clare. He had the rest of his usual gear as well, orange pants, kunai holster on his right leg, and a headband tied around his forehead with a blue cloth. Haku, dressed in her usual hunter ninja garb, minus the mask, which had been broken by Naruto in the land of the waves, stood ominously next to him.

Gathering chakra into his legs, Naruto lept down into the stadium's center, flipping in the air and landing fourty feet away.

"Ooh ya! Where is that teme?" Naruto yelled "I'm going to take him down!"

"Go Boss!" yelled Konohamaru from the cheering section, along with Moegi, Udon, and his everpresent tutor and closet pervert Ebisu. Between the three of the academy students they waved a far too bright orange banner that said, 'Go Naruto' in black letters.

Spying the Konohamaru corps from the arena floor, Naruto gave a thumbs up in their direction.

"It seems that Uchiha Sasuke is not present." Genma said, obviously bored "Under the normal regulations, he would be disqualified, but due to special circumstances, his match has been delayed till last."

"Meh... Thats cool, I wouldn't want to win by default anyway." Naruto said crossing his arms above his head and, joining Haku back in the stadium seats.

"Instead, the first match will be Ame Tenten vs Sabaku no Temari" Genma explained to the crowd.

As soon as the words left his mouth, a leaf chunin shunshined down to the arena floor whispering something into the brownhaired proctor'sear. Sighing, Genma announced once again "It seems Ame Tenten isn't here either, so-"

"I'm here!" a voice said. A voice belonging to none other than Tenten. The bunhaired kunoichi ran down the aisle towards the floor. Just by chance, Naruto and Haku were sitting on the seats next to stairway, as she passed them time seemed to slow.

"I knew you'd make it." Naruto said.

"Of course" Tenten replied.

"Go kick some ninja ass out there," Naruto said "I'd wish you good luck, but-"

"Won't need it" Tenten said, giving the thumbs up sign and grinning.

"Right" Naruto agreed, also giving the thumbs up sign.

And suddenly time swung back into full swing. Tenten ran and in one swift move, somersaulted over the guard rail and onto the floor below.

"Hmph" On the other side, Temari unfolded her giant fan and threw it, into the air, floating on top of it like a glider, quickly landing down on the stage floor.

"Damn, that was a cool entrance!" Naruto commented, his arms crossed in front of him.

"This is going to be a tought match for Tenten, that girl with the fan is strong" said Haku.

"Are you ready, Temari-san?" Tenten asked, smiling confidently, drawing two sawedged kunai from her pouch.

"Hmph" Temari said, smirking cockily, her giant fan unfolded behind her.

"Sabaku no Temari vs Ame Tenten, ready... Hajime!" Genma said, rather halfheartidly as he played with the senbon in his teeth.

Immediatly, the two ninja leaped away from the other, creating distance between the two kunoichi. Testing to see how good she was, Tenten threw her kunai towards the blond ninja, who a expected, parried easily with her fan's edge.

"You should just go home little girl, I know all about those weapons of yours, and you don't stand a chance of beating me" taunted Temari.

Tenten smirked "You think so, lets see about that."

Placing her hand into her shuriken holsters, Tenten pulled out eight shuriken. Warily, the bunhaired kunoichi threw the meatal projectiles towards the sandy haired kunoichi, who smirked and deflected the throwing stars with her giant fan, while pretending to yawn from boredom "You know you could try to make this interesting."

Returning the grin, Tenten pulled out sixteen shuriken "Two times shuriken!" and threw the metal projectiles to to the left and right, so that they span towards Temari, blocking her in either direction. The blond haired girl dodged backwards, narrowly avoiding the metal projectiles.

On the other side of the ring, Tenten threw a few smoke bombs towards the distracted kunoichi, creating a cloud of black smoke.

Temari put a hand up to her mouth, coughing. Then holding her breath, she swung her giant fan, blowing away the smoke.

**"Soushoryu(Twin Rising Dragons)!**Tenten yelled some fourty odd feet up in the air, and the twin scrolls encircling her shot out a massive wave of kunai towards the sand kunoichi.

(The jutsu's name might be wrong because I honestly couldn't find the name of the technique, I did it off memory, I looked on wiki and everything but it didn't list it, its the one she uses in the anime, if it is wrong, just tell me the correct name in a review and I'll fix it)

Temari smirked as the weapons rushed towards her at blinding speed **Ninpou: Dai Kamatachi (Ninja Art: Great Slashing Wind)**" and with one swing of her fan, the entire wave of kunai was blown back along with Tenten into the arena's side, the weapons catching the bunhaired kunoichi's body.

"What? When did she?" Temari asked as the bunhaired girl started to flicker in and out of vision, as if she was on a bad tv set and her outline was fuzzy.

Suddenly the impaled Tenten and the kunai littering the floor vanished, leaving the ring completely empty, save Temari..

"Real shinobi look beneath the underneath" Tenten said, from behind Temari, a kunai to the suna kunoichi's throat.

"Wow, Tenten-chan's really gotten good! Even her genjutsu is better than before." remarked Naruto.

"Indeed" replied Haku.

Suddenly Temari disappeared as well, into a puff of smoke "I could say the same thing to you, try looking underneath this."

"Dammit, where is she" Tenten asked looking around, her hands closing around two kunai handles.

" Dai Kamatachi!" Temari roared as she swung her fan yet again, sending the bunhaired girl flying "Weaklings like you give kunoichi a bad name. I'd bet you only became a ninja because you like some boy, that Hyuuga kid or maybe the Uchiha, huh bitch?"

"Why is she badmouthing Tenten? Thats not playing fair" Naruto said, annoyed.

"Its a perfectly legitamate strategy Naruto-sama and by the looks of things its working. Being a good ninja isn't just about having flashy jutsu, though that has importance as well. A good ninja is calm and collected at all times. Tenten-san often loses her temper when she or things she cares about are insulted, as you often do, Naruto-sama."

"But I-" Naruto began.

"Naruto-sama, when one fights for their precious persons, they can be truely strong. I told you that when we first met and we agreed. When one fights for what they beleive in, one can exceed his or her limits, but at the same time, he or she wastes their energy up much faster than usual. Also, the angered shinobi is more suceptible to suprise attacks and genjutsu in particular."

"I see..." Naruto said.

"You are an exception, Naruto-sama because you had the Kyuubi's massive chakra supply and regenerative powers, however Tenten-san doesn't have that luxury..." Haku concluded, her voice even.

"Tenten-chan..." Naruto whispered, even more concerned.

Smirking Temari swung her fan, creating an enormous gust of wind. Gathering chakra into her feet Tenten narrowly dodged the blast by leaping to the side and in the same fluid movement, launched a wave of senbon back at the suna kunoichi.

Temari jumped into the air, evading the senbon and at the same time swung her fan again, battering the defensless leaf shinobi. Grimacing Tenten returned the favor by throwing kunai towards the blond ninja, who deflected them with kunai of her own.

When she saw Temari rear back for another swing, Tenten instinctivly dodged to the left, not noticing a paper bomb, near her feet. With one final crack the exploding tag exploded. Tenten crossed her arms in front of her, taking the full brunt of the explosion, which sent her flying. With a thud, Tenten landed face down in the dirt.

"This is pathetic... You're a disgrace, to your bastard parents, to your teamates, and especially to your village, give up, from the beggining you had no chance of winning" Temari taunted.

"My parents were proud shinobi...and so am I. I-I won't let you insult them, or me..." Tenten said, still on the ground, crying a little.

Struggling a little to stand up, Tenten said her throat dry as a bone, just barely a whisper "I'm a certified kunoichi of Konoha and I'll prove it right here..."

Silent, but smirking Temari drew a solid line in the dirt at her feet and stepped across it, a nonverbal challange.

Tenten put her hand to her chest, where her heart would be, a strange orange glow collecting there. Then opening her eyes, she drew back her arm as if to unsheathe a sword,

"Let's go! ** Kono Sora Akaku Somete(Stain this Sky Red) Amaterasu."**

In Tenten's hand light slowly solidified, becoming a cross between a sword and a lance. Its blade was doublesided and was silver with an orange divider in the middle. In the very center halfway up the blade was a single silver hexagon. The handle was flat and around one and a half feet, without any wrappings so that the bare metal was exposed. At the other end was a very small dragonlike triangle shaped head with a orange zigzag pattern on it. The most remarkable thing about it, however was a large bright red sash attached to the lance.

"Sugoi, so thats Tenten's zanpakuto, its way different from mine or even Zabuza's head chopper cleaver, its barely even a sword..." Naruto remarked, amazed at the fairly futuristic weapon.

"Of course Naruto-sama, zanpakuto are physical manifestations of one's own soul, thus they are all unique. Tenten's seems particularly unorthodox though" Haku said.

"This is my shikai, sunlight heart." Tenten said, wrapping the red cloth around her right arm, like red bandages.

"Cute light show, but I'll warn you, its impossible to get anywhere near me with that thing" Temari said, arching back to swing her massive fan again.

"Here I come" Tenten rushed forward, straight towards Temari, Sunlight Heart pointed like a lance.

"A direct attack? **Dai Kamatachi(Great Slashing Wind)**!" the wind mistress yelled and a massive wave of air crashed against the bunhaired kunoichi.

Tenten struggled against the wind tempest, the wind scratching her arms and legs numerous times. Still, the kunoichi pushed foreward even as the feirce wind made mincemeat of her skin and clothes, until just before the bunhaired girl was about to reach Temari, Tenten was blown back by the ferocious wind.

Standing up even quicker, than the last time she was knocked to the ground, Tenten readied herself for another charge. Pointing her lance, Tenten charged once again"This time, I'll do it."

"I told you, direct attacks don't work, you must be either a masochist or as dumb as that stupid little blond dweeb from before..." Tenten smirked, as she sent another gust of wind towards the defensless kunoichi.

"Todokei!(Peirce), atashi no sunlight heart!" Tenten yelled.

"What the-" Temari asked, shocked.

As Tenten yelled, the end of the bright cloth became a bright yellow gold color, the color of sunlight, and suddenly Tenten took a step foreward, and then another, and then another, her speed increasing dramatically with each step "**Nikko no Kire!(Sunlight Slasher)!**" With a burst of energy, Tenten cleared the wind and rushed towards the suna kunoichi.

Temari gasped as the konoha genin cleared her wave of wind, the distance between the two shrinking rapidly. Seeing the blond haired girl in front of her, Tenten thrust out her lance.

At the last second, Temari dodged the lance's tip, so that it only scraped against her side, leaving a shallow graze, which tore of a peice of her pink blouse. Then with one hand, the blond kunoichi grabbed onto the lance and pulled, forcing the weapon's mistress of balance. "I won't let a third rate kunoichi like you make a fool out of me!" and with one hand, the blond girl swung her closed fan like a club intent on smashing the brown haired woman's head off. At the last second Tenten ducked the wild swing, and sweep kicked Temari, who backflipped over the leg, landing on the top of her own closed fan. Tenten seeing Temari, rushed towards her again and tried to stab the sandy haired kunoichi, only to hit air. Temari soumersaulted overhead once, landing a good distance away from the bunhaired kunoichi.

"Darn I was so close-" Tenten said, turning to face the sandy haired kunoichi once again.

"I understand what that strange weapon of yours is now..." Temari said, a little arrogant.

"What do you mean?" Tenten asked, her eyes serious.

"I mean I know what that thing around your neck is. Its a cloth that responds to your willpower. As your will to fight increases, that cloth disappears, creating that golden energy, which becomes power for you to attack me with. However, its not something you can do it indefinately, meaning you have a limit on how many times you can do it..." Temari said.

"H-How did you-"

"I know because once you charged at me, part of that cloth disappeared, its exactly six inches shorter than before." Temari remarked.

Smiling venemously, Temari continued "And, because it looks like that attack takes a lot out of you... judging by how heavily you're breathing right now"

Tenten stepped back an inch suprised, she hadn't noticed herself how hard she was panting after she had used her sunlight slasher.

Temari chuckled, clutching her injured side "Looks like I win. At this distance and with your condition, you shouldn't be able to dodge this" and the wind mistress held out one finger in front of her, then brought it toward her, as if she was pulling something.

Tenten gasped as she realized what Temari was doing, and the bunhaired girl jerked her body to the left, just as Temari's fan rushed right by her, right where Tenten's head was less than a second ago.

Grinning confidently, Temari caught the huge fan in one hand, not even wincing as she caught the massive weapon, revealing a single blue chakra string attached to her finger.

"That girls a monster!" Naruto said, wide eyed and mouth hanging open.

"Indeed, her physical stamina and jutsu are amazing" commented Haku "In addition, her tactical skills are tremendous as well."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"Temari-san was able to evade and counter Tenten's jousting attack with minimal injury to herself. Not only that, but she was also able to deduct the properties of her zanpakuto after only seeing it once. She will truely be a kunoichi to be feared." Haku commented softly.

"So what are you trying to say?" Naruto asked.

"I don't think Tenten-san stands a chance..."

"I don't think you're giving Tenten enough credit." Naruto said, crossing his arms "She's the strongest girl I know, and one of the scariest. I don't have a doubt in my mind, she'll definately win-ttebayo..."

"Hai, Naruto-sama..." Haku agreed reluctantly.

Tenten suddenly unraveled the cloth around her neck, grabbed it by the end in one hand and yelled "Energy Senkai(Release), **Nikko no Senkou(Sunlight Flasher)!**"Suddenly, the cloth became bright gold and the whole arena was enveloped by the huge burst of golden energy.

Caught in the blinding light, Temari sheilded her eyes, "Damn, she still had a card like this in her hand."

"Peirce, Ore no Sunlight Heart!" Tenten yelled as she ran through the light to meet Temari.

"What's with the ground? Damn it." Suddenly the brown haired kunoichi stumbling and finally skidding to a stop, her feet unable to find purchase on the ground for some reason.

"What's going on, why did Tenten-chan stop?" Naruto asked, as the sunlight cleared from the stadium.

"It looks like Temari was prepared, she knew Tenten was saving some trick for later." Haku explained.

"She read the entire move, before she was blinded by the light, Temari was able to swing her fan again and alter the terrain, so Tenten wouldn't be able to run through it, she made the entire floor into sand"

The once unremarkable battleground was transformed. The floor was covered in sand, and what few trees that managed to survive the gusts were now smothered by the sand too.

**"Fūton: Mugen Sajin Daitoppa(Infinite Sand Cloud Great Breakthrough)" **Temari said, fighting the urge to gloat, and losing "Its an advance form of the Daitoppa jutsu, instead of just a strong blast of air, any ground that the wind touches is ripped apart by the powerful winds into miniscule peices, effectivly forming sand."

"Why sand?" Naruto asked.

The suna kunoichi continued "Sand is quite different from the solid ground you're used to. When running one pushes against the ground, and in return, the ground pushes back, giving them the force needed to run. Sand, on the other hand, does not do anything like that. Because of its composition, it redistributes the force from your leg, giving hardly anything back. Thats why is so much harder to run on a beach than on dry land. Its also a lot harder for you to get a good footing in this hilly cover of sand."

"The only move you have that can possibly reach me is that rushing move. I've also neutralized your long range weapon attacks with my fan." Temari said cockily "In other words... this battle's mine."

Tenten gritted her teeth, frowning. As much as she wanted to admit it, that girl was right, she really didn't have any cards left to play.

"I'll end it right now, **Kuchiyose: Kamatari!(Summoning Technique: Kamatari)**" Temari said as she bit her thumb and smeared the blood over the top of her fan. Swinging her fan, suddenly the scythe blade weasel appeared in a puff of smoke, summoned by her blood smeared on the fan, and with another swing Temari launched the rodent with with tremendous force spinning force, creating for all intents and purposes a mini hurricane.

"Why did she blow away all the sand after she went through all that trouble to create it in the first place?" Naruto asked.

"It seems that Temari-san was just buying a little time to set up this technique." Haku observed.

"Don't give up, Tenten-chan!" Naruto yelled, balling his hands into fists.

Seeing Naruto worried over Tenten, made Haku experience some mixed feelings. One part of her was jealous that her master worried over Tenten, and the other part wanted to comfort the worried blond ninja. Finally, the raven haired kunoichi rested hand over Naruto's reassuringly. Seeing the confused look on Naruto's face, Haku smiled "It'll be alright, don't worry..."

"Yah" Naruto agreed "Definatly"

Tenten gulped as she saw the minitorndao come barrling straight towards her, she could almost see the sand colored animal amongst the whirling tempest. Steeling herself, Tenten charged straight at the hurricane, yelling as more of the red cloth turned gold, "Maximum! Energy Senkai(Release)!"

Suddenly, the two forces met head on, Tenten's lance and Temari's hurricane. The hurricane tore at the bunhaired girl's clothes and the raging sand scratched her unprotected face and arms.

"Burst out! Watashi no Sunlight Heart!" Tenten yelled, and in an instant the whole cloth turned gold and vanished as if it were paper, reduced to dust. From the tip of Temari's lance erupted a massive wave of sunlight, that engulfed the entire stadium, blinding all the spectators.

"Its over" said Genma as he picked at his teeth abently.

"Who is it? Who won?" Naruto asked.

As the light cleared, the raging atmosphere full of tension had changed. A strange feeling filled the two contestants, the feeling one gets in the calm after the storm, after putting all their cards on the table.

"That chakra... its beautiful" Temari whispered, in a daze.

Finally, the sunlight cleared, revealing a battered, looking Tenten standing with sunlight heart an inch away from Temari's chest. Her beautiful brown locks had come undone in the hurricane and hung down to her shoulders, rustling back and forth in the light as the winds died down.

"Winner Ame Tenten!" Genma announced over the roars of the crowd.

"It was a good match..." Tenten said, lowering her zanpakuto, Amaterasu, disappearing in a flash of light. With a smile Tenten held out her hand to the suna kunoichi.

"Yah, whatever" Temari said, shaking her head to clear it. The blond kunoichi turned and walked away silently, ignoring the bunhaired kunoichi's hand, .

"Sore loser..." Tenten remarked.

"Awesome, great job, Tenten-chan!" Naruto yelled from the stands.

Tenten's face lit into a smile "Naruto-kun, arigato!"

"Ugh, they're making me sick..." Shikamaru said from the sidelines.

"Shikamaru!" Making a face that said he didn't understand women at all, Ino elbowed the pineapple head in the gut as Tenten shunshined back up to the section of the stadium where Naruto and Haku sat.

"Hey, how was it?" she asked walking towards the blond and black haired ninjas.

Suddenly, Tenten began to wobble a bit, her legs buckling underneath her. Before her legs gave out, Naruto appeared behind her, catching her by the small of her back, he helped her to the small medical center where they treated the contestants. Inside, he led her to a private room where she could rest.

"You tired Tenten-chan? You look like it." Naruto asked the bunhaired kunoichi smiling foxily, knowing full well the answer.

"Of course, I just need some rest, using all that energy sure takes a lot out of me..." Tenten whispered as they walked. Gingerly, the sore kunoichi sat down, holding back a moan of pain as she did "Arigato Naruto."

"Hey no sweat Tenten-chan. Just rest up here and you'll be fine."

"Ano sa... Do you think... I've become a better kunoichi, Naruto-kun?" Tenten blurted out, embarressed as soon as the words left her mouth.

"What are you talking about all of the sudden?" Naruto asked off guard.

Tenten poked her fingers together, mimicking a certain Hyuuga "Well I-"

"Tenten you're the strongest woman I know." Naruto said, showing his best fox smile.

Tenten paused for a second, suprised. A small blush appeared on her cheeks and she smiled "Arigato, Naruto-kun."

"No problem Tenten-chan, listen I got to get back my match might be next. I'll be back as soon as I beat Sasuke-teme's ass."

Tenten nodded back to the blonde whiskered shinobi.

"Yosh! I'm ready for my match, bring it on Sasuke!" Naruto yelled from the stands.

"Will Nara Shikamaru and Sabaku no Gaara come down." Genma asked, fiddling with the senbon in his mouth.

Naruto facevaulted, anime style.

"Whooo! Go get them Shikamaru!" Ino yelled from the stands, watching the lazy ninja practically throw himself over the rail into the ring.

"No, Shikamaru is going to give up." Choji said, to the right of Ino, as he munched on chips "Besides that Gaara's a monster."

"No see he's already down there, I'm telling you Choji, there's something different about him today, he's totally motivated. I think there's a good chance that Shikamaru's going to win." Ino said.

" Ino-pig...He's only down there because Naruto pushed him." Sakura pointed out, sweatdropping.

On the other side, Gaara descended from the stands on his platform of sand "I'll make you bleed."

Shikamaru winced as he picked himself up "Man, what a drag... This guy's a monster, they can't expect me to beat him."

"Contestants ready? HAJIME!" Genma said, signaling the start of the match.

Gaara stretched out his hand, and as he did the sand rushed towards the pineapple haired genin.

"**Kage Mane Jutsu(Shadow Imatation) **succesful." said Shikamaru, and suddenly all the sand halted in front of Shikamar, way to close for comfort.

"I see, he used the shadow cast by Gaara's own wave of sand along with the wall's shadow." Asuma said, watching Shikamaru with interest.

"It doesn't matter, I know he's smart, but he can't possibly hold down Gaara for long." said Kurenai.

And true to her word, the wave of sand seemed to be shuddering, fighting off the effects of the shadow imitation technique.

"Shikamaru's a genius, I'm sure he knows that already." Asuma said, taking a puff from his cigeratte "which is why..."

"I give up!" Shikamaru called out in a loud voice.

"You!" Gaara said, trying to throw off the Kage Mane.

"He's given up, call down your sand or you'll be disqualified." Genma stated, flipping a senbon nonchalantly in the air.

"Fine" Gaara said, and with that, the sand retreated back into his gourd "My next opponent won't be so lucky."

Genma watched thoughtfully as the sand ninja made his way back to the stands.

Back in the stands, Naruto could barely contain his excitement "Alright my turn next!"

"The next match will be Hyuuga Neji vs Rock Lee!" Genma announced as the two genin faced each other, "Contestants ready? HAJIME!"

Naruto facevaulted, again.

"Well, Naruto-sama, they did say you're match would be last." Haku said gently, patting the dejected genin on the shoulder as the two other contestants made their way to the arena floor.

"It is good to see that you are well, Neji " Lee said, his body already shifting into his trademark fighting stance.

"Hmph, I heard a rumour that you had run away with your bushy tail between your legs, but it looks like you're back for another beating" Neji taunted.

Lee brushed off the comment, as only he could " Neji, even though I have never defeated you before, this time... this time, I'll defeat you! And prove that I too am a genius, a genius of hard work!"

"A genius? Of hard work? That has to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard of" Neji said, scoffing.

In the stands, Hyuuga Hiashi and Hyuuga Hanabi sat side by side.

"Pay attention Hanabi, our Hyuuga bloodline, the pride of Konoha, runs thickest through Neji's veins" Hiashi ordered, his face grave.

"Hai Otou-sama" Hanabi responded.

Lee stepped backward, as if Neji's words had actually struck him "I'll show you the fruit of my hard work!"

--

Hey guys, I'm sorry that its been such a long time since I last updated, rest assured, I will finish this story even if it kills me.

I hope you like it so far, this chapter is all new, whereas the rest have just been condensed and modified. I hope you liked Tenten and Temari's fight, I was aiming for more on the short but sweet kind.

Read and Review as always

--character profile--

Tenten

The name of her spirit is Amaterasu, the shikai form's name being sunlight heart. For Tenten's zanpakuto, I basically modeled it after Mutou Kazuki's from busou renkin. How could I not, Kazuki is awesome, on a side note, so are Tokkiko and Captain Bravo. Its shape is really hard to explain if you haven't watched busou renkin, if you'd like google it, sunlight heart. Besides, Busou Renkin is a great anime and manga(one of my absolute favorites), I suggest everyone watch it. If not, just imagine whatever you'd like it to look like.

So basically Tenten's zanpakuto is as I described in the chapter, a combination of sunlight heart plus (the victor version) with the origional sunlight heart's cloth attached. I really did like the cloth for the first weapon, but I found the origional too clunky to be used by a cute girl like Tenten, so I chose to use the plus version as the main body for its more streamlined appearance.

Since its ability is pretty complicated, I'll explain it...

Besides the lance, Tenten's zanpakuto also consists of a large crimson cloth. This sash is a representation of Tenten's fighting spirit. It converts her will to fight into energy by burning the cloth, which is emitted as pure golden energy, the color of the sun. This energy can then be channeled in a variety of ways, such as increased speed or strength to peirce through tough armor, or a giant burst of light to blind enemies. The amount of cloth each burst of energy costs is equvilant to the power of the technique used, meaning the more power a technique uses, the more of the cloth is eaten up.

As Tenten's strength, stamina, and will grows, so does the cloth. At this point in the story, the cloth is about two times the length of her sword. Tenten can summon her weapon any time its needed by calling out its name and placing her hand on her chest, specifically where her heart is. It can then be retracted on command, ready to be used whenever she needs it, making it quite easy to transport. If it is taken from Tenten, she can summon it back to her hand. It disappears and reappears in her hand, think Sora's keyblade from Kingdom Hearts. Its also a constantly released zanpakuto, meaning it doesn't ever rever back into a katana, its shikai is always active, she must just summon it.

So far her zanpakuto stats are...

Initial Trigger to summon: **soshite kono sora akaku somete(stain this sky red)** by the way this line is from the first Shakugan no Shana opening, I stole it cause its cool.

Techniques:

**nikko no kire(sunlight slasher)**-The most basic of the attacks, uses up a small amount of her cloth's length for fuel. By burning the cloth, Tenten can increase the speed of her charge, enabling her to run faster than normal, which in turn increases destructive power a little.

**nikko no senkou(sunlight flasher)-**The second technique made possible by the cloth's energy, uses up a medium amount. Creates a giant burst of light that blinds the opponent and anyone in the surrounding vicinty.

Spirit:believe it or not Ammy from Okami

Bankai:?

--


End file.
